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George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 
FAMILY  OF 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


FAITH,   THE  VICTORY; 


OR, 


A  COMPREHENSIVE  VIEW 


or 


THE  PRINCIPAL  DOCTRINES 


or 


THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 

BY 

Rt.  Rev.  JOHN  McGILL,  D.  D. 

BISHOP   O*   RICHMOND. 


'•This  is  the  Victory,  which  overcometh  the  World,  our  Faith." 

1  John  v:  4. 

"  In  the  Catholic  Church  itself,  very  great  care  is  to  be  taken  that 
we  h%ld  that  which  hath  been  believed  every  where,  always,  and 
by  all." — Commonitorium  of  Vincent  of  Lirint. 


RICHMOND: 
J.  W.  RANDOLPH,  121  Main  Street. 
%  1865. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1865,  by  Rt. 
Rev.  John  McGill,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court 
of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  for  the  Eastern  Dis- 
trict of  Virginia.  ■• 

Macfarlane  &  Fergusson,  Printers. 


=#  3  ■/ 


DEDICATION. 


We  presume  to  dedicate  to  our  Father  in  Christ,  His 
Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX.,  this  little  volume,  as  an  affec- 
tionate token  of  admiration  of  his  eminent  talents,  ex- 
alted virtues,  and  benevolent  character,  and  of  humble 
submission  to  his  supreme  authority,  as  visible  head  of 
the  Church,  and  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Author. 


PREFACE. 


The  actual  condition  of  the  country,  because  of  the 
deplorable  and  sanguinary  war  now  waged,  and  of  the 
blockade  which  is  enforced,  prevents  us  from  procuring 
the  many  excellent  works,  which  have  been  written  and 
published  elsewhere,  for  explaining  and  defending  the 
doctrines  of  religion.  Yet  it  is  not  only  desirable,  but 
even  most  necessary,  that  we  should  have  some  books 
of  religious  instruction  for  our  people,  and  especially 
for  the  youth  of  both  sexes,  who,  either  in  the  schools, 
or  under  the  paternal  roof,  are  at  present  receiving 
their  education.  Moreover,  'among  those  not  of  our 
church,  there  appears  to  be  a  growing  disposition  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  Catholic  doctrines,  and  to  exam- 
ine for  themselves  into  the  nature  and  grounds  of  our 
faith,  and  it  is  difficult  for^them  to  obtain  the  necessary 
books,  or  for  the  priests,  from  whom  they  are  asked,  to 
furnish  them.  'As  in  other  cases,  when  men  cannot 
obtain  what  is  deemed  ^necessary  or  very^important, 
they  exert  themselves  to  prepare  a  suitable  substitute 
which  may  answer,  I  have  been  induced,  in  view  of  our 
manifest  need,]  to  write  and  publish  this  volume,  not- 
withstanding'thc/liflicultics  attending  suchjin  enterprise 
in  our 'present' circumstances.  I  entertain  the  hope 
that  my§Right  Reverend  and  Reverend  Brethren  of  the 
Clergy,  to  whose  enlightened  criticism  I  submit  it,  be- 
ing prepared  to  receive  and  profit  by  their  suggestions, 


VI  PREFACE. 

will  not  find  it  unworthy  of  their  approbation  and  pat- 
ronage, and  that  both  for  members  of  the  church,  and 
for  candid  and  ingenuous  readers  of  other  denomina- 
tions, it  will  not  be  without  interest  and  utility,  even 
though  they  may  have  access  to  the  standard  works, 
which  give  expositions  of  the  various  points  of  our  doc- 
trines. Many  of  these  are  in  the  catechetical  form,  not 
the  most  pleasing  to  some  minds,  and  which  I  have  not 
adopted,  though  I  recognize  and  appreciate  its  advanta- 
ges. I  have  also  aimed  to  condense  as  much  as  I  have 
been  able,  without  a  sacrifice  of  perspicuity,  in  order 
to  present  a  general  view  of  our  principal  tenets  in  a 
small  volume.  I  must,  however,  admonish  the  reader, 
that  it  was  more  my  purpose  to  set  before  him  a  plain 
statement  of  the  principal  doctrines  of  religion,  than 
to  bring  forward  the  various  proofs  from  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures and  from  the  testimonies  of  early  Fathers  and 
Doctors,  which  might  be  adduced,  and  which  manifest 
that  they  are  divine  revelations  and  Apostolical  tradi- 
tions. I  desired  to  show  what  is  taught  by  the  church, 
and  what  we  have  to  receive  with  faith,  giving  on 
different  points  some  of  the  proofs,  but  not  to  exhibit 
and  controvert  the  various  errors  and  objections,  at 
different  times,  devised  by  the  pride  of  human  reason, 
in  scrutinizing  the  mysteries  of  God,  and  the  claims  of 
his  church. 

From  the  text  of  St.  John,  on  the  title  page,  will  be 
perceived  the  reason  why  I  call  this  book,  "  Faith, 
the  Victory."  The  greatest  victory,  that  man  can 
achieve,  is  that  by  which  he  conquers  his  own  passions,  • 
and  thus  foils  all  his  enemies,  "the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil,"  and  merits  the  crown  of  glory  and  everlast- 
ing life.     "  To  him  who  shall  overcome,  I  will  give  to 


PJRKFAl  Vll 

sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  ns  1  also  have  overcome,  and 
am  set  down  with  my  Father,  in  his  throne."  Apoe. 
iii.  21.  But  this  victory,  over  self  and  over  our  spi- 
ritual enemies,  can  only  be  obtained  by  faith,  which 
hears,  believes,  and  obeys  God.  "An  obedient  man 
shall  speak  of  victory."  Prov.  xxi.  28.  When  God 
reveals  any  thing,  our  duty  is  to  believe  and  obey  him. 
To  begin  to  reason  about  what  he  has  revealed  is  to  act 
unreasonably.  We  should  use  our  reason  to  examine  if 
God  has  spoken,  but  not  to  inquire  whether  what  he 
says  is  credible.  The  reason  of  God  is  infinitely  su- 
perior to  our  reason,  and  he  can  reveal  to  us  things 
above  our  comprehension.  We  can  only  know  what 
God  has  said,  in  the  sense  he  has  said  it,  from  his 
church.  It  is  therefore  only  by  "  hearing  the  church,"' 
that  avc  can  have  faith,  which  will  enable  us  to  over- 
come ourselves,  and  secure  salvation. 

Many,  who  have  come  into  life  to  receive  immediate- 
ly the  blessing  of  the  true  faith  by  baptism,  being  born 
of  Catholic  parents,  and  having  the  opportunity  to  be 
instructed,  lose  the  victory  because  of  their  ignorance 
of  the  principles  and  reasons  of  their  faith.  They  ne- 
glect to  study  the  motives  of  credibility,  to  understand 
exactly  what  the  church  has  defined,  and  to  ascertain 
upon  what  grounds  and  proofs  she  rests  her  teaching, 
and  when  their  faith  is  misrepresented  and  denounced 
as  absurd,  they  know  not  what  to  reply,  become  asham- 
ed of  what  should  be  their  glory,  and  therefore  they 
fall  away  in  time  of  temptation.  Had  they  been  equal- 
ly ignorant  on  all  other  matters,  they  might  have  been 
secure  in  the  humility  which  confides  in  the  authority 
of  the  church,  and  asks  only  to  know  what  it  is  n< ■> 
sary  to  believe  and  do   in   order  to  secure  eternal  life. 


VIII  PREFACE.  ^ 

But  thinking  themselves  wise,  they  imagine  that  they 
should  be  able  to  defend  all  they  should  profess,  without 
having,  by  study  and  reading,  acquired  the  necessary 
science,  which  would  qualify  them  to  know  precisely 
what  the  doctrines  are,  and  to  detect  the  misrepresen- 
tations and  sophisms  by  which  they  are  impugned. 

But  it  is  almost  impossible  to  induce  men  to  interest 
themselves  about  that  which  is  most  important  to  them, 
their  eternal  destiny,  and  the  means  to  ensure  their 
happiness  forever.  Either  they  are  unwilling  to  sub- 
mit their  minds  in  obedience  to  farther  unwilling, 
when  they  do  believe,  to  "  deny  themselves  and  carry 
the  cross,"  as  Jesus  Christ  requires  to  be  done  by  those 
who  would  follow  him  to  his  glory. 

As  I  have  undertaken  to  treat  of  those"doctrines, 
upon  which  depend  the  destinies  of  men  for  eternity, 
and  where  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  present 
only  what  is  true,  it  is  a  duty  and  satisfaction  to  sub- 
mit the  whole,  to  the  judgment  of  the  Holy  See,  whose 
authority  is  supreme,  and  I  do  this  with  the  ready  will, 
to  expunge  any  thing  which  it  may  find  herein  not  con- 
sistent with  Divine  revelation  and  Catholic  doctrine.  I 
have,  however,  been  as  careful  as  I  could  be,  to  present 
as  pertaining  to  faith,  only  that  which  is  certainly  re- 
vealed in  the  Word  of  God,  and  believed  in  the  church. 
With  this  declaration,  and  noting  that  the  last  chapter 
is  less  complete  than  those  preceding,  because  I  had  to 
condense  three  that  were  prepared,  in  order  to  avoid 
increased  cost,  I  leave,  the  book  to  the  considerate  atten- 
tion and  impartial  judgment  of  the  reader. 

Ricikmond/JFebruary,  1865. 


PRINCIPAL    DOCTRINES 

OF   THE 

CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Existence  of  God. — The  Nature  of  God. — 
The  Unity  of  God. — The  Trinity. 

"  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God;"* 
but  this  denial  springs  up  in  the  heart  from  a  corrupt 
will,  and  .is  never  the  conclusion  of  the  mind.  The 
denial  of  the  existence  of  God  cannot  in  any  sane  mind 
find  place,  since  in  addition  to  the  intimate  sense  of 
God's  existence,  whiah  every  one  has,  there  are  irre- 
sistible proofs,  adduced  from  the  principles  of  metaphy- 
sics, and  from  the  experience  of  a  Supreme  Providence 
overruling  the  world  and  human  affairs,  superadded  to 
the  express  revelation  which  the  Deity  has  made  of 
himself,  that  establishes  the  fact  beyond  all  doubt. 

There  never  was  a  nation  that  did  not  worship  some 
God ;  for  as  the  Fsalmist  declares  :  "  The  light  of  thy 
countenance,  0  Lord,  is  signed  upon  us."  f  The  won- 
derful order  of  the  different  parts  of  the  universe  mani- 
festly declares  the  supreme  architect.  For  as  Cicero 
says  :  "No  art,  no  hand,  no  workman  can,  by  imitating 
attain  the  dexterity  and  skill  found  in  nature."  J  Even 
the  human  body  itself,  with  its  wonderful  conformation, 
and  its  co-ordination  of  so  many  delicate  parts,  proclaims 
its  divine  Maker.  "  The  heavens  show  forth  the  glory 
of  God,  and  the  firmament  declareth  the  work  of  hia 

i  ...  —    -    —  ..—i  ■—  ■  -       ■     -         -  *■»  ■  .^— ■     ■  - 

*Ps  xni.  1.-  fPi.  fr;  1      $De  Nat,  Deor.  lib.  2. 


* 


2  OF   Got). 

hands,"*  says  the  Royal  Prophet ;  and  we  read  in 
wisdom  :  "For  by  the  greatness  of  the  beauty,  and  of 
the  creature,  the  creator  of  them  may  be  seen,  so  as  to 
be  known  thereby."  f 

The  Nature  of  Crod. 

No  words  can  more  fitly  express  to  our  minds  the 
divine  nature,  than  those  which  Moses  represents  that 
he  received  from  God  himself:  "I  am  who  am."  These 
words  indicate  a  being,  self-existing,  depending  upon  no 
other  being,  and  upon  whom  all  other  beings  are  de- 
pendent ;  and  whatever  perfection  can  be  thought  or 
imagined  must  belong  to  this  being,  self- existent,  in- 
dependent, and  therefore  infinite.  To  exist  of  himself, 
dependent  upon  no  other,  is  to  be  eternal,  infinite,  and 
to  have  all  possible  perfections. 

God,  being  supremely  perfect,  is  therefore  a  pure 
spirit,  most  simple  in  his  nature,  eternal,  immense,  im- 
mutable, knowing  all  things,  omnipotent,  and  ruling  all 
things.  God  is  a  pure  spirit,  and  has  not  those  things 
which  are  perceived  by  the  human  senses.  He  is  sim- 
ple,'or  without  parts,  and,  .having  neither  commence- 
ment nor  ending,  exists  always  the  same.  Eternity  is 
defined  by  Boetius :  "  The  entire  and  perfect  posses- 
sion of  interminable  life."  X  In  God  there  is  no  before 
and  afterwards,  no  succession,  or  distinction  of  past  and 
future,  but  the  plenitude  of  life.  He  is  immense,  be- 
cause circumscribed  neither  by  place  nor  time,  he  exists 
everywhere,  and  fills  all  things.  He  is  not  subject  to 
vicissitude  or  change,  and  all  things  are  present  to  him, 
and  he  sees  the  past  and  the  future  at  the  same  glance. 
There  is  nothing  which  involves  power,  that  lies  not 
within  the  reach  of  his  omnipotence ;  and  if  there  be 
any  thing  he  cannot  do,  it  is  only  such  things  as  involve 
imbecility,  weakness,  imperfection,  or  deficiency  in  the 


*Ps.  xviii;  2.    |  Wisdom,  ch.xiii:  5.       iBoetius  lib.,  3,  tie  con- 
Bolfttiooe. 


OF   GOD.  3 

one  who  should  do  them.  All  things  else  depend  on 
him,  because  he  created,  preserve?,  and  governs  them 
according  to  hi3  own  supreme  will  and  pleasure.  The 
Psalmist  says:  "He  spoke  and  they  were  made ;  He 
commanded,  and  they  were  created."*  "When  Thou 
openest  thy  hand,  they  shall  all  be  filled  with  good. 
But  if  Thou  turn  away  thy  face,  they  shall  be  troubled  : 
Thou  shalt  take  away  their  breath  and  they  shall  fail, 
and  shall  return  to  the  dust."f 

•  •        Of  the   Unit?/  of  God. 

God  is  one.     "  If  God  is  not  one,  there  is  no  God,"  . 
gays  Tertullian.     Indeed  the  supreme,  absolute,  and  in- 
finite could  not  be  found  in  two  or  more  beings..     The 
absolutely  perfect  and  infinite  admits  of  nothing  equal 
to  it.     For    supreme  perfection  is  to   have  no  equal. 
When 'the  pagans  worshipped  many  gods,  they  were  sub- 
jected to  gross  blindness  of  mind  and  obduracy  of  heart, 
and  "  professing  themselves  to  be  wise   they  became 
fools,  and  they  changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible 
God,  into  the  likeness   of  the   image  of  a  corruptible 
man,  and  of  birds,  and  of  four-footed  beasts,  and  of 
creeping  things."  X     Not  the  common  herd  only,  but 
the  Philosophers  and  learned,  because  of  sin,  were  given 
over  to  this  reprobate  sense  ;  "Because  that  when  they 
knew  God,  they  have  not  glorified  him  as  God,  or  given 
thanks;  but  became  vain  in  their  thoughts,  and  their 
foolish  heart  was  darkened."     But  even  the  pagans  had 
the  idea  of  the   Supreme   Deity.      And    they  could 
never  have  supposed  that  those  men  and  inferior  crea- 
tures, so  foolishly  considered  by  them  as  gods,  could  be 
endowed  with  the  infinite  attributes  and  perfections, 
which  can  only  be   found  in  one   being.     "  Hear,  Oh 
Israel,  the   Lord  our   God  is  one   God;"§  and  again  : 
"  See  ye  that  I  alone  am,  and  there  is  no  other  God 
besides  me."  || 


*Ps.cxlviii:  5.       |Ps.  ciii     28,29.     JRom.    1  :  22,  23.     §Deut. 
i:  4.  ||Ib.  xxxii:  39. 


OF   GOD. 


The  Most  Holy  Trinity, 

God,  though  one  in  his  divine  being  and  nature,  ex- 
ists in. a  trinity  of  persons.  This  article  of  divine  faith 
is  a  sublime  mystery,  "which  we  are  not  bound  to  com- 
prehend, but  to  believe.  "Teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."*  The  Constantinopolitan  creed 
says:  "God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  yet  these  are  not  three  Gods,  la.it  on- 
ly one  God."  And  "These  three  are  one,"  says  the 
Apostle  St.  John.t  It  follows  from  God's  revelation 
that  this  is  true,  even  though  we  may  not  comprehend 
it.  Our  reason  is  not  able  to  comprehend  the  infinite. 
But  our  reason  tells  us,  that  the  infinitely  perfect  being 
cannot  teach  us  a  falsehood.  If  we  were  required  to  be- 
lieve that  God  is  one  and  three  under  the  same  respects, 
it  might  seem  to  us  absurd,  but  we  are  taught  that  God 
is  one  in  respect  to  his  being  and  essence,  but  three 
under  the  respect  of  personality  only — "  one  God  in 
three  persons."  And  if  God  tells  us  this  is*so,  we  can 
only  say :  I  do  not  comprehend  how  it  is  so ;  but  wre 
cannot  say,  I  do  not  believe  it.  Because  God  is  worthy 
4o  be  believed,  and  we  ought  "  to  bring  into  captivity 
our  understanding  unto  the  obedience  of  Christ."!  The 
mystery  requires  us  to  believe  that  all  the  divine  attri- 
butes, eternity,  majesty,  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and 
all  absolute  perfections  belong  equally  to  each  of  these 
three  divine  persons,  because  they  are  all  one  God,  and 
one  God  only. 

The  Father  is  the  fountain  and  origin  of  the  others, 
himself  produced  from  no  other,  and  called  Father,  be- 
cause from  eternity  and  always,  He  generates  the^Son 
coiiSubstantial  with  himself — that  is,  of  the  same  sub- 
stance with  Him.  "God  of  God,  light  of  light,  true 
God  of  true  God."§ 

The  Son  is  begotten  of  the  Father  from  all  eternity, 

*Math.  xxviii:  23.     f  I  John  v:  7.       |2  Cor.  x  :    §Nicene  Creed. 


OF   SOD.  .S 

generated,  not  made,  and  is  called  the  Word,  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Father.  The  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son  as  from  one  principle,  but  He 
is  not  generated.  He  is  a  person,  and  the  term  of  the 
mutual  love  which  the  Father  and  the  Son  have  for 
each  other. 

In  contemplating  this  mystery,  we  should  not  allowour 
imagination  to  seize  upon  it,  as  if  we  could  picture  it  to 
ourselves.  We  cannot  imagine  that  this  generation 
and  procession,  require  priority,  because  in  God  there 
is  no  succession  of  time,  but  the  generation  and  proces- 
sion are  always,  as  God  exists  always  from  eternity  to 
eternity.  To  help  us  slightly  to  understand  this,  we 
may  consider  how  light  proceeds  from  the  sun,  and  yet 
both  are  of  the  same  antiquity  of  time.  But  God  ex- 
ists in  Eternity,  and  the  three  divine  persons  have  the 
same  antiquity,  notwithstanding  the  generation  of  the 
Son,  and  the  profession  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  We*  be- 
lieve this,  because  it  is  the  revelation  which  God  has 
made  to  us  concerning  himself.  While  the  human  mind 
cannot  comprehend  this  mystery,  yet  having  known  it 
by  revelation,  it  sometimes  makes  an  effort  to  show, 
from  the  image  thereof  found  in  man,  that  it  must  of 
necessity  be  found  in  God.  Of  this  we  have  an  exam- 
ple in  the  Sixth  Elevation  of  Bossuet,  on  the  mystery 
of  the  Trinity.  He  writes :  "We  exist,  we  understand, 
we  will.  Now,  to  understand  and  to  will  is  not  abso- 
lutely the 'same  tiling;  tfere  it  absolutely  the  same 
thing,  persons  would  not  distinguish  them.  But  they 
do  distinguish  them :  for  we  understand  what  we  do  not 
will,  what  we  do  not  love,  although  we  cannot  love  or 
will  what  we  do  not  understand.  God  understands  and 
knows  what  he  does  not  love — as  for  example,,  sin ;  and 
how  many  things  do  we  understand  and  hate,  and  which 
we  would  neither  do  nor  suffer,  because  we  understand 
that  they  are  hurtful  to  us  ?" 

"  We  are  therefore  something  intelligent,  something 
which  understands  itself  and  loves  itself ;  Taduch  loves 
only  what  it  understands,  but  which  can  know  and  un- 
derstand what  it  does  not  love.     Thus  to  imderstaud 


t>  OF   GOD. 

and  to  love  are  distinct  things,  but  so  inseparable,  that 
there  is  no  knowledge  without  some  will.  And  if  man, 
like  the  angel,  knew  all  that  he  is,  his  knowledge  would 
be  equal  to  his  being.:  and  loving  himself  in  proportion 
to  his  knowledge,  his  love  w^uld  be  equal  to  the  one 
and  the  other.  And  if  the  whole  of  this  were  ■well  or- 
dered, the  whole  together  would  constitute  but  one  and 
the  same  happiness  of  the  same  soul,  and,  to  speak 
truly,  of  the  same  happy  soul ;  in  this,  that  by  the  upj 
Tightness  of  its  will,  conformed  to  the  truth  of  its 
knowledge,  it  would  be  just.  Thus,  these  three  things 
well  ordered,  to  be,  to  know,  and  to  will,  make  one  only 
happy  and  just  soul,  which  could  not  be  without  being 
known,  nor  be  known  without  being  loved,  nor  separate 
from  itself  one  of  these  things,  without  losing  the  wIioIg 
entirely,  and  with  the  whole  its  happiness.  For  what 
would  it  import  to  a  soul  to  be,  and  yet  not  know  itself? 
or  to  know  itself,  and  not  to  love  itself  in  the  manner 
it  should  to  be  truly  happy — that  is,  without  loving  it- 
self in  reference  to  God,  who  is  the  whole  foundation 
of  our  happiness." 

"  Thus,  in  our  imperfect  and  defective  manner,  do 
we  present  the  image  of  an  incomprehensible  mystery. 
A  created  Trinity,  which  God  has  placed  in  our  souls, 
represents  to  us  the  uncreated  Trinity,  which  He  only 
could  reveal  to  us ;  and  to  make  us  represent  it  the 
better,  he  has  mingled  in  our  souls,  which  represent  it, 
something  of  the  incomprehensible.  .  We  have  seen  that 
to  understand  and  to  will,  to  know  and  to  love,  are  acts 
very  distinct  from  each  other ;  but  are  they  so  distinct 
that'they  are  entirely  and  substantially  different?  This 
cannot  be  :  the  knowledge  is  nothing  else  than  our  soul 
affected  in  a  certain  way ;  and  the  will,  but  the  sub- 
stance of  our  soul,  affected  in  another  way.  When  I 
change  either  thought  or  will,  have  I  this  thought  or 
will  without  my  substance  entering  therein  ?  Undoubt- 
edly it  enters;  and  at  bottom  it  is  nothing  else  than 
my  substance  affected,  diversified,  modified  in  different 
ways,  but  in  its  base  always  the  same.  For  in  chang- 
ing thought,  I  do  not  change  substance ;  and  my  sub* 


/ 


aoD. 


stance  remains  one,  whilst  my  thoughts  come  and  go, 
and  whilst  my  will  goes  on  distinguishing  itself  in  my 
soul,  whence  it  continues  to  proceed  ;  just  as  my  knowl- 
edge goes  on  distinguishing  itself  from  my  being,  from 
which  likewise  it  proceeds,  and  whilst  both,  viz :  my 
knowledge  and  my  will,  in  so  many  manners  distin- 
guish themselves,  and  successively  direct  themselves  to 
diverse  objects,  my  substance  ever  remains  the  same  at 
bottom,  although  it  enters  entirely  into  all  these  man- 
ners of  being-,  so  different  from  each  other." 

"  0  God  !  In  whose  presence  I  contemplate  myself, 
and  to  myself  am  an  enigma  I  I  have  soon  in  myself 
three  things  :  to  be,  to  understand,  to  wrll.  Thou  dost 
will  that  1  should  forever  be,  since  thou  hast  given  to 
me  an  immortal  soul,  the  happiness  or  woe  of  which 
shall  be  eternal ;  and  didst  Thou  will  it,  I  should  un- 
derstand and  will  always  the  same  thing ;  for  it  is  thus 
thou  wiliest  that  I  may  be  forever,  when  thou  shalt 
make  me  happy  by  thy  presence.  Did  I  will  and  un- 
derstand but  the  same  thing,  as  I  have  but  one  only 
being,  I  should  also  lime  but  one  only  knowledge  and 
will,  or,  if  the  expression  be  preferred,  one  only  to  un- 
derstand and  to  will.  However,  my  knowledge  and  my 
love  or  my  will  would  not  for  this  be  less  distinguished 
from  each  other,  nor  less  identified — that  is  to  say, 
would  not  be  the  less  one  with  the  basis  of  my  being, 
with  my  substance.  And  my  love  or  my  will  could  not 
but  proceed  from  my  knowledge  ;  and  my  love  would 
be  always  a  thing  Which  I  should  produce  within  my- 
self, nor  should  I  the  less  produce  my  knowledge ;  and 
there  would  always  be  in  me  three  things,  being,  or  to 
be,  producing  knowledge, 'knowledge  produced,  and  also 
love  produced  by  the  one  and  the  other.  And  if  1 
were  of  a  nature  incapable  of  all  accidents  occurring 
to  its  substance,  and  in  which  everything  must  of  ne- 
cessity be  substantial,  my  knoivledge  and  my  love  would 
be  something  substantial  .and  subsistent;  and  I  should 
be  three  subsisting  persons  in  one  only  substance — 
that  is,  I  should  be  Grod."  H 

"But  as  things  are  not  thus  with  me,  I  am  only  made 


?<•  01    AKfGBLfi. 

to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  and  an  imperfect 
sketch  of  that  unique  substance,  which  is  at  the  same 
time  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost ;  a  substance  which 
is  incomprehensible  in  its  triune  divinity,  at  bottom  but 
one  same  thing,  sovereign,  immense,  eternal,  perfectly 
one,  in  three  distinctly  subsisting  persons,  equal  to  each 
other,  consubstantial ;  to  whom  is  due  one  only  worship, 
one  only  adoration,  one  only  love." 

The  length  of  this  citation  will  be  forgiven  us,  on 
account  of  its  beauty,  and  even  sublimity.  Bossuet 
considers  the  soul  a  created  trinity,  and  avers  that 
were  it  in  finite,. its  three  faculties  or  powers  would  be 
three  subsisting  persons.  No  accident  can  occur  to  the 
divine  substance,  infinite  and  eternal;  and  knowledge 
and  Jove  in  God  must  then  be  something  substantial, 
subsistent,  living,  and  therefore  in  God  there  must  he 
three  living  subsistences  in  one  only  substance — subsis- 
tences called  divine  persons,  not  in  the  sense  of  person 
applied  to  men,  but  in  a  sense  as  incomprehensible  as 
the  essence  of  God,  which  is  one  and  indivisible,  and 
belongs  entire  to^each  of  the  three  persons,  who  are 
uncreated,  and  distinct  from  each  other  in  personality 
only.  We  cannot  comprehend  this  Trinity  of  persons, 
nor  this  unity  of  substance  and  essence;  nor-can  we 
comprehend  our  soul,  one  substance  and  three  powers, 
but  we  can  believe  these  mysteries,  because  God  reveals 
them. 


CHAPTER  II. 

J 

Of  Creation. — Of  Angels. — Of    Good  Angels. — 
Of  Demons. 

*  r 

God  crated  Heaven  and  Earth,  and  all  things  that 
they  contain.  These  things  are  called  the  works  of  God. 


op    INGELS.  *  9 

They  are  the  works  of  God,  as  the  one  first  cauSe  of 
*all  things,  and  the  three  divine  persons  alike  in  them 
manifested  their  glory  and  power.  Yet,  in  considering 
these  works,  we  attribute  different  operations  to  the 
different  persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  What. flows  from 
Omnipotence,  is  attributed  to  the*  Father  ;  what  from 
wisdom,  to  the  Son,  who  is  the  Word  and  wisdom  of  the 
Father  ;  and  what  from  goodness  and  love,  to  the  Holy 
Ghost."  This  attribution  to  the  different  persons  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  assists  our  understanding  to  contemplate 
them,  aad  appeals  "to  our  admiration,  gratitude  and 
love.  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth  "  in  the 
beginning."  Upon  the  earth  he  placed  the  first  Man 
and  woman,  whom  also  He  created.  But  besides  man, 
He  created  beings  superior  to  men — for  the  Scriptures 
often  speak  to  us  of  his  angels. 

m 

Of  the  Angels. 

•At  what  time  God  created  man,  we  are  told  in  the 
Scriptures ;  but  these  do  not  tell  us  at  what  time  pre- 
cisely he  created  the  angels.  St.  Epiphanius  and  others 
infer  from  the  Scriptures,  that  the  angels  were  not 
created  after  God  had  given  existence  to  the  stars,  since 
it  said  in  the  book  of  Job:  "When  the  morning  stars 
praised  me  together,  (or  were  made,)  and  all  the  sons 
of  God  made  a  joyful  melody."*  Nor  were  they  cre- 
ated before  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  since  before  the 
creation  of  these  no  created  things  existed,  because 
God  created  tjiese  "in  the  beginning." 

We  are  taught  by  the  church,  that  "from  the  begin- 
ning, God,  by  His  omnipotent  power,  created  out  of 
nothing  both  creatures,  the  spiritual  and  the  corporeal, 
to  wit,  the  angelic  and  the  mundane,  and  then  the  hu- 
man, as  if  common,  constituted  out  of  spirit  and  body."f 
From  which  declaration  some  infer  that  the  angels  were 
created  before  mere  corporal  things ;  which  seems  also 
to  be   the   opinion   of  St.   Augustine.     The  angels  are 

spiritual,  intellectual  creatures,  without  bodies,  as  theo- 
; +- 

•.Ti>!>.  eh.  xxxviii:  7.     "fCounc.  Later.,  ell.  i:    1,  tin.  1  '-2 1  - > . 


10  OF     ANGELS. 

logians  commonly  teach,  although  no  definition  has  been 
made  by  the  church  that  they  have  no  bodies.*  "Wher 
makest  thy  angels  spirits  :  and  thy  ministers  a  burning 
fire."f  They  have  the  power  to  know  and  to  under- 
stand in  a  degree  far  superior  to  man.  A  character- 
istic difference  between  the  angel  -and  the  human  soui 
is,  that  the  angel  of  his  own  nature  exists  as  spirit, 
while  the  human  soul  of  its  nature  tends  to  a  connexion 
with  a  human  body.  The  body  is  its  compliment,  and 
though  for  a  time  it  be  separated  from  it  by  death,  it- 
is  again,  at  the  resurrection,  to  be  re-united  with  it. 

The  number  of  the  angels  has  not  been  made  known 
to  us,  but  from  the  Scriptures  we  learn  that  their  num- 
ber is  very  great.  We  also  find  mention  made  of  dif-  ' 
ferent  "ranks  or  orders.  We  are  told  of  the  seraphim, 
cherubim,  thrones,  dominations,  principalities,  powers, 
the  virtues  of  Heaven,  archangels,  and  angels.  These 
constitute  nine  choirs,  and  by  theologians  these  nine 
choirs  have  been  classed  in  three  hierarchies,  each  con- 
sisting of  three  choirs.  As  God  created  the  angels, 
that  he  might  bestow  upon  them  eternal  felicity,  we  are 
assured  that  He  liberally  granted  to  them  whatever  was 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  secure  this  happiness, 
which  consists  in  knowing  God  as  He  is,  in  loving  Him, 
and  possessing  him  forever. 

Of  the  angels,  some  obtained  eternal  felicity,  and 
some,  by  their  own  fault,  lost  it.  The  first  are  called 
holy  angels,  or  simply  angels,  the  last  are  called  devils, 
demons,  evil  spirits,  the  powers  of  darkness.  In  the 
beginning  all  the  angels  were  good,  their  nature  was 
good.  But  being  intelligences,  and  endowed  with  lib- 
erty, they  had  to  be  subjected  to  trial.  God,  giving 
to  them  grace,  left  them  to  choose  their  lot  freely.  If 
they  were  faithful,  and  under  this  trial  persevered  in 
grace,  their  destiny  was  fixed  in  eternal  happiness ;  but 
infidelity  brought  a  loss  of  grace,  and  eternal  reproba- 

*Some  have  held  the  opinion  that  angels  are  invested  with  a 
sort  of  subt^body,  rather  spiritual  than  material ;  but  the  Psalmist, 
as  above^iMl,  declares  :  "Who  makest  thy  angels  spirits." 

f  Ps.  cm  :  4. 


OF  .ANGELS.  11 

Ktion.  Unfortunately,  many  of  them,  exalted  -with  pride 
because  of  their  own  excellence,  fell  by  sin  and  became 
demons.  Wishing  to  be  independent  of  God,  they  were 
consigned  to  everlasting  misery.  " 

Two  cities  being  thus  formed,  according  to  St.  Au- 
gustine's idea,  the  city  of  the  holy  angels  and  the  city 
of  demons,  there  was  an  eternal  separation  between 
them.  But  in  creation  nothing  is  isolated,  and  between 
this  world  and  the' world  of  spirits,  there  are  numerous 
points  of  contact.  Relations  exist  between  men  and 
the  angels,  both  good  and  bad,  as  we  are  taught  to  be- 
lieve by  the  church. 

The  good  Angels  in  their  Relations  roitli  Men. 

The  sublime  and  acceptable  office  of  those  intelli- 
gences who  remained  faithful  to  God,  ami  who  enjoy 
his  friendship,  was  shown  fo  St.  John,  as  he  informs  us 
in  the  Apocalypse  :  "  And  all  the  angels  stood  round 
about  the  throne,  and  the  ancients,  and  the  four  living 
creatures ;  and  they  fell  clown  before  the  throne  upon 
their  faces,  and  adored  God  saying  :  Amen.  Benedic- 
tion, and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  honor, 
and  power,  and  strength  to  our  God  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen.!"  *  But  besides  their  presence  before  God,  they 
are  his  messengers,  as  their  very  name  of  angel  imports. 
They  are  the  instruments  of  his  providence  over  men. 
The  Holy  Scriptures  are  full  of  testimonies  to  this  truth, 
and  the  church  has  always  taught  it.  St.  Paul  asks  : 
"  Arc  they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  to  minister 
for  them,  who  shall  receive  the  inheritance  of  salva- 
tion ?"f  The  fathers  speak  of  the  angel  who  presided 
at  baptism  ;  of  the  angel  who  intervened  in  the  obla- 
tion, and  bore  it  up  to  the  sublime  altar,  wrhich  is  Jesus 
Christ;  of  the  angel  of  prayer,  who  presented  to  God 
the  vows  of  the  faithful. 

"The  ancients,"  writes  Bossuet,  "were  so  affected 
by  this  ministry  of  the  angels,  that  Origen  publickly 

►Apoo.  vii.  11.  u.     fHeb.  i:  H. 


12  OF   ANGELS. 

and  directly  invokes  the  angel  of  baptism,  and  recom- 
mends to  him  an  old  man,  who  was  about  to  become  the 
child  of  Jesus  Christ  by  this  sacrament."  .  .  .  1 
*  When,"  Bossuet  continues,  "  when^  I  behold  in  the 
prophets,  in  the  Apocalypse,  in  the  gospels  themselves, 
that  angel  of  the  Persians,  that  angel  of  the  Greeks, 
that  angel  of  the  Jews,  (Dan.  x. :  13,  20,  21 ;  xii:  1,) 
the  angel  of  little  children,  who  undertakes  their  cause 
before  God  against  such  as  scandalize  them,  (Mathew 
xviii.  "10,)  the  angel  of  the  waters,  the  angel  of  the 
fire,  (Apoc.  xiv:  18,  xvi:  5,)  and  thus  of  others ;  when, 
among  all  the  angels,  I  behold  him  who  places  the  in-, 
cense  of  prayers  upon  the  celestial  altar;  (ibid,  vizi:  3,) 
I  recognize  in  these  words  a  kind  of  mediation  of  holy 
angels  ;  I  even  see  the  grounds  Avhich  gave  occasion  to 
the  pagans  to  distribute  their  divinities  in  the  elements 
and  in  kingdoms  to  preside  over  them:  for  every  error 
is  founded  upon  some  truth  that  is  abused.  "But  God 
forbid  that  I  should  see,  in  all  these  expressions  of  the 
Scripture,  any  thing  which  injures  the  mediation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  all  the  heavenly  spirits  recognize 
as  their  Lord,  or  anything  which  savours  of  pagan  er- 
rors, since  there  is  an  infinite  difference  between  recog-* 
nizing,  as  did  the  Pagans,  a  God  whose  action  cannot 
extend  to  every  thing,  and  who  needs  to  be  aided  by 
subalterns,  after  the  manner  of  earthly  kings,  whose 
power  is  limited ;  and  a  God  who  doing  all  things,  and 
able  to  do  all  things,  honours  his  creatures  by  associa- 
ting them  with  his  acHon  when  he  pleases,  and  in  the 
manner  that  he  ^Zeases."  * 

God's  omnipotence  suffices  for  the  government  of  the 
universe,  but,  as  Bossuet  says,  God  is  pleased  to  honour 
his  creatures,  in  bringing  them  to  take  part  in  his  ac- 
tion. He  does  this  both  for  men  and  angels ;  -feence 
the  consoling  and  beautiful  doctrine  of  guardian  angels. 
Of  the  children  our  Saviour  assures  us:  "that  their 
angels  in  Heaven  always  see  the  face  of  my  Father, 
who  is  in  Heaven."  f  If  the  church  has  not  expressly  de- 

*  Preface  to  the  Apocalypse,  xxvii.     fMath.  xviii:  10. 


OF    ANGELS.  13 

lined  that  every  'one  has  his  guardian  angel,  it  is  the 
common  sentiment  of  the  fathers  and  theologians,  that 
the  just  and  faithful  have  each  a  particular  guardian 
angel  to  watch  over  them,  while  many  of  them  arc  of 
opinion  that  the  goodness  of  God  has  given  such  guar- 
dians to  all  men,  even  to  the  infidels.  And  when  we' 
remember  how  frail  and  weak  we  are,  and  how  sur- 
rounded by  perils  of  all  kinds,  as  well  in  the  physical 
as  in  the  moral  order,  it  is  consoling  to  think  that  we 
have  such  a  celestial  auxiliary  to  watch  over  and  help 
us.  The  thought  is  capable  not  only  to  excite  our  grat- 
itude to  God,  but  to  stimulate  our  self-respect,  as  it 
manifests  our  present  alliance  with  the  celestial  society, 
into  which  we  hope  one  day  to  be  introduced. 

It  is  particularly  with  reference  to  our  eternal  salva- 
tion that  this  guardianship  is  appointed ;  but  our  inter- 
ests in  the  temporal  order  are  also  the  subject  of  solici- 
tude to  these  generous  guardians. 

Of  the  Demons  in  their  Relations  with  Men. 

The  demons  are  angels  who  have  fallen  through  pride, 
of  whom  the  chief  is  Lucifer,  known  commonly  as  the 
Devil.  "And  the  angels  who  kept  not  their  princi- 
pality, but  forsook  their  own  habitation,  He  hath  re- 
served under  darkness  in  everlasting  #fcwns,  unto  the 
judgment  of  the  great  day."*  Their  ruin  was  irre- 
trievable and  without  hope,  and  their  wills,  .fixed  in 
malignity,  burn  with  desire  to  propagate  rebellion  against 
God.  They  hate  men  as  aspirants  for  the  places  they 
have  left  vacant  in  Heaven,  and  strive  to  bring  them 
into  a  similar  rebellion  and  ruin.  Though  exiled  to 
hell,  and  held  in  the  bondage  of  everlasting  chains,  as 
represented  by  St.  Jude,  and  also  by  St.  Peter,  in  the 
4th  verse  of  the  second  chapter  of  his  second  epistle, 
there  are  many  of  them  permitted  by  God  to  diffuse 
themselves  through  the  air,  under  the  influence  of  "the 
prince  of  the  power  of  this  air,  of  the  spirit  that  now 

*Jude  1  .  v.  6. 


14:  OF   Ai\'GELS. 

worketh  on  the  children  of  unbelief,"*  seeking  to  ensnare 
men  into  sin  for  their- eternal  ruin.  These  evil  spirits, 
as  shown  in  the  'holy  scriptures,  chiefly  act  by  means 
of  temptations  and  possessions.  That  they  have  been 
allowed  to  take  possession  of  the  bodies  of  men,  is  clear 
from  several,  places  in  the  New  Testament,  and  these 
persons  wer*s  said  to  be  "possessed  of  the  Devil."  The* 
history  of  the  casting  out  of  the  devil  by  our  Saviour, 
recorded  by  St.  Mark  in  his  ninth  chapter,  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable.  It  is  needless  to  specify  other 
instances." 

Of  temptations,  much  is  said  to  us  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. St.  Peter  tells  us:  "Be  sober  and  watch;  be- 
cause your  adversary,  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  goeth 
about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour,  whom  resist  ye 
strong  in  faith."  f  And  St.  Paul  says:  "Put  ye  on 
the  armour  of.  God,  that  you  may  be  able  to  stand 
against  the  deceits  of  the  devil.  For  our  wrestling  is 
not  against  flesh  and  blood  ;  but  against  principalities 
and  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  world  of  this  dark- 
ness, against  the  spirits  of  wickedness  in  the  high 
places."! 

Before  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  these  wicked  spirits 
had  more  power  than  since,  but  Christ  overcame  them 
by  his  death  and  resurrection.  At  the  end  of  the  world, 
and  during  the  persecution  of  Antichrist,  they  tfill 
make  greater  efforts  through  the  increased  wickedness 
of  men ;  but  at  all  times  they  are  restless  in  trying  to 
seduce  souls,  by  their  deceits  and  snares.  .  They  can 
only  obtain  empire  over  Christians,  by  leading  them 
into  mortal  sin.  But  Christians  must  be  proved  by 
temptations,  and  God  permits  them  to  be  tried.  The 
Apostle,  in  his  first  Epistle,  to  the  Corinthians,  shows 
what  is  the  nature  of  this  trial  by  temptations :  "  Let 
no  temptation  take  hold  on  you,  but  such  as  is  human. 
And  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you. to  be  tempted 
above  that  which  you  are  able  ;  but  will  make  also  with 


*Ephes.,  c.  2  :  v.  2.     |1  Pet.,  ch.  5  :  v.  8,  9.     JEpUes.  vi.:  11,  12. 


-      .Jfc 


OF    MAN.  15 

temptation  issue,  that  you  may  be  able  to  bear  it."* 
If  there  were  no  temptations,  there  could  be  no  victo- 
ries. But  men  can  prevent  being  taken,  or  overpower- 
ed, by  those  temptations  which  are  not  liuman,  but  dia- 
bolical, if  they  use  the  grace  given  to  them  to  keep  free 
from  grievous  sin  ;  and  though  seized  by  mere  human, 
or  common  temptations,  they  can  always  bear  them,  and 
even  commonly  overcome  them,  with  the  strength  which 
God  gives  them,  as  lie  will  make  the  issue  glorious  for 
them,  by  rendering  them  victorious.  Not  indeed  that  they 
Will  be  able  to  preserve  themselves  from  all  sins,  even 
venial  sins,  but  that,  with.  God's  aid,  they  will  succeed 
to  remain  steadfast  in  his  holy  grace  and  friendship. 


9  CHAPTER   III. 

OF    MAN — TIIE   FALL   OF   MAN — THE  UNITY  OF   THE  HU- 
MAN   RACE. 

God  created  man  but  little  less  than  the  angels. f 
Man  is  a  rational  creature,  made  to  the  image  and  like- 
ness of  God.  This  likeness  is  in  the  soul  of  man,  be- 
cause it  is  endowed  with  reason,  intelligence,  will  and 
liberty.  The  human  soul  is  a  spirit,  able  to  understand 
to  choose,  to  know  what  it  should  do,  and  what  it  does. 
As  the  Scripture  says  :  "And  the  Lord  formed  man  of 
Ihe  Blime  of  the  earth  :"ar.d  breathed  into  his  face  the 
breath  of  .life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul."!  Man 
is  thus  composed  of  body  and  soul,  the  connecting  link 
between  the  visible  and  invisible  world,  between  the 
world  of  intelligences  and  the  world  of  matter.  God 
also  created  the  first  woman  ;  but  instead  of  taking  the 
slime  of  the  earth'  to  form  her  body,  He   cast  Adam 

*  1  Cnr.  x:  13.,        f  Fs.  viii  :  6.         }  Gen.  2d  chap.  y.  6. 


10  OF    MAN.     , 

into  a  deep  sleep,  or  trance,  and  from  his  side,  took  one 
of  his  ribs:  "And  built  the  rib  which  he  took  from 
Adam  into  a  woman."*  By  this  he  gave  Adam  to  un- 
derstand a  great  mystery,  for  Adam  said  :  "  This  now 
is  bone  of  my  bones,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh ;  she  shall 
be  called  woman  because  she  was  taken  out  of  man: 
Wherefore  a  man  shall  leave  father  and  mother,  and 
shall  cleave  to  his  wife;  and  they  shall  be  two  in  one 
"flesh."  Adam  understood  and  announced  the  design  of 
God  in  the  institution  of -"marriage,  which,  as  St.  Au- 
gustine and  other  fathers  tell  us,  represents  the  myste- 
ry of  the  union  of  Christ  with  human  nature  and  with 
his  church,  l!he  most  strict  anion  was  indicated  for 
those  who  should  form  a  society  with  each  other  in  mar- 
riage. 

That  God  created  the  soul  of  man  rational,  spiritual, 
and  immortal,  is  taught  us  both  by  faith  and  reason. 
The  whole  of  the  Christian  religion  is  predicated  on 
this  truth.  As  matter  oannot  understand  and  reason, 
whatever  thinks  and  reasons  is  spiritual,  so  also  what- 
ever is  spiritual  is  immortal,  because,  being  without 
parts,  it  cannot  be  corrupted  or  separated.  "  For  how 
can  its  substance  perish,"  asks  St.  Ambrose,  "when  it 
Jfys  the  soul  that  infuses  life  ?  To  whom  the  soul  is  in- 
fused, life  is  infused ;  from  whom  the  soul  departs,  life 
departs  :  the  soul  therefore  is  life.  For  how  can  it  re- 
ceive death,  when  it  is  the  contrary  to  it?  so  also  the 
soul  which  creates  life,  dots  not  receive  death,  and  does 
not  die.  But  the  soul  does  not  receive  death,  and 
therefore  the  soul  does  not  die."f  "The  dust  returns 
into  its  earth,  from  wlience  it  was,  and  the  spirit'returns 
to  God,  who  gave  it,"  says  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes.J 
In  .the  book  of  wisdom,  we  read  concerning  the  just, 
that :  "in  the  sight  of  the  unwise  they  seemed  to  die. 
their  hope  is  full  of  immortality. "§ 

It  is  the  common  opinion  of  Catholic  Theologians 
that  God  creates  a  soul  for  each  person  and  unites  it  <9 


*  Gen.  Hi.  2.  v.21,22,  23.     f  De  Bono  Mortis,  ch.  9,  n.  42.     %  Ec- 
cles.  xit.     §  Wisd.  ch.  3,  v.  2,  4.  " 


OF    MA!\.  17 

■with  its  appropriate  body  at  the  time  he  creates  it,  al- 
though St.  Augustine  seemed  unwilling  to  define  whe- 
ther God  thus  singly  creates  each  soul,  or  created  one 
spiritual  and  immortal  soul,  from  which  the  spiritual 
and  immortal  souls  of  others  are  derived.  Other  fath- 
ers and  theologians  were,  like  him,  doubtful  as  to  thjs 
question,  but  the  most  of  the  fathers  seem  to  have  held 
the  opinion,  now  commtyn,  that  God  creates  a  soul  for 
each  human  person. 

When  it  is  asked,  why  Gcnl  created  man?  The  an- 
swer is  that  He  created  him,  as  He  gave  existence  to 
all  other  creatures,  for  himself,  for  his  own  honour  and 
glory..  But  the  end  for  which  he  created  man  consid- 
ered in  hirnseif,  was  that  man  might  enjoy  an  eternal 
beatitude,  or,  in  other  words,  that  he  might  know,  love, 
serve,  and  enjoy  God  for  all  eternity/  This  alone  can 
constitute  the  supreme  happiness  of  a  rational,  spiritu-  * 
al,  immortal  creature.  For  no  intelligent  creature  can 
be  happy  unless  all  his  desires  are  satisfied,  and  there 
is  left  for  him  nothing  to  desire  *or  to  dread.  When- 
ever he  desires  or  fears  something,  there  is  something 
wanting  to  his -happiness.  But  except  God,  there  ex- 
ists nothing  that- can  satisfy  all  the  desires  of  an  intel- 
lectual creature.  God  alone  is  the  supreme  good,  al^t 
other  things  are  finite,  subject  to  vicissitude,  inconstant, 
fleeting,  and  cannot  therefore  satisfy  their  possessor,  so 
that  he  may  neither  wish  for  anything,  nor  fear  any- 
thing. "Thou  hast  made  us  for  thyself  oh  Lord," 
savs  St.  Augustine,  "and  our  heart  is  restless  till  it 
rest  in /Thee."* 

To  obtain  eternal- beatitude  Adam  and  Eve  had  the 
opportunity  offered  them.  It  was  necessary  for  them 
to  love  God  above  all  things  else,  and  for  God's  sake  to 
love  other  creatures  in  due  order,  first,  those  creatures 
in  God's  image  and  likeness  classed  as  the  neighbour^  ' 
and  then,  inferior  creatures  as  the  works  of  God.  It 
was  further  necessary  to  serve  and  obey  God,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  commandment,  which  he  gave  them  saying: 

*  Lib  1,  Confes.  c.  1,  n.  ! . 


18  Oh'    MA*. 

"But  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  thou 
shalt  not  eat.  For  in  what  day  soever  thou  shalt  eat 
of  it,  thou  shalt  die  the  death."*  They  could  accom- 
plis  this  easily ;  because  while  in  their  body  and  soul 
all  was  well  regulated,  they  had  all  the  instruction  and 
aid  necessary  for  this  duty.  They  were  blessed  with 
health,  and  not  subjected  to  infirmity,' or  old  age;  they 
were  provided  with  abundance  for  the  wants  of  the 
body,  and  their  souls,  were  in  a  state  of  perfect  justice 
and  innocence.  They  knew  what  was  necessary  for 
them  to  know,  their  judgment  was  correct,  their  minds 
were  serene  and  unclouded,  and  they  enjoyed  perfect 
liberty.  Their  will,  though  free,  because  of  the  integrity 
and  justice  of  their  souls,  tended  rather  to  good  than 
to  evil,  and  they  were  able  to  do  as  they  should  choose. 
The  inferior  part  of  the  soul  was  in  due  subjection  to  the 
*  superior,  and  their  senses  were  not  excited  by  concu- 
piscence. And,  even  beyond  the  order  of  nature,  they 
had  received  from  God  graces,  to  render  the  work  of 
their  salvation  entirely  easy  for  them.  Besides,  if  they 
proved  themselves  faithful,  they  would  transmit  to  their 
posterity  all  these  blessings. 

*  The  Fall  of  Man. 

But  man  lost  every  thing  by  transgressing  the  com- 
mandment of  God,  and  eating  the  forbidden  fruit.  His 
companion  was  first  seduced  by  man's  great  adversary, 
the  devil,  who,  tempting  her  in  the  appearance  of  a 
beautiful  serpent,  induced  her  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit. 
She  afterwards  seduced  Adam  into  the  same  disobedi- 
ence. They  were  promised,  by  the  tempter,  that  "their 
eyes  should  be  opened,  and  they  should  be  ^ike  gods, 
knowing  good  and  evil,"f  and  hence  they  were  led  to 
sin.  Pride,  curiosity,  and  an  inordinate  appetite  caused 
the  fall  of  Eve,  and  the  same,  together  with  obsequious- 
ness to  his  wife,  led  Adam  into  the  same  misfortune. 
And  what  a  sin!  which   brought  with  it  such  terrible 


*  Gen.  2d  ch.  v.  17.  f  Gen.  iii  :  •". 


OF   MAiV  1$ 

consequences^  St.  Augustine  finds  this  sin  immense 
and  indescribable.  He  says:  "Pride  was  there,  be- 
cause man  loved  rather  to  be  in  his  own  power  than  un- 
der that  of  God ;  and  sacrilege,  because  he  did  not  be- 
lieve God;  and  homicide,  because  he  precipitated  him- 
self into  death  ;  and  spiritual  fornication,  because  the 
integrity  of  the  human  mind  was  corrupted  by  the  per- 
suasion of  the  serpent ;  and  theft,  because  he  usurped 
a  prohibited  food  ;  and  avarice,  because  he  desired  more 
than  was  sufficient  for  him;  and,  if  there  is  any  thing 
else  to  be  admitted  in  one,  it  can  be  discovered,  by 
diligent  consideration."*  The  facility  with  which  so 
flight  a  precept  could  have  been  observed,  the  great  re- 
ward attached  to  its  observance,  the  great  penalty  await- 
ing its  infraction,  the  freedom  from  concupiscence  which 
they  enjoyed  who  had  to  observe  it,  and  the  obligations 
of  love  and  gratitude  which  they  owed  to  Him,  who 
gave  the  commandment,  combine  to  enhance  the  malig* 
nit y  and  guilt  of  this  fatal  trangression. 

The  punishment  and  effects  of  this  sin  to  .our  first 
parents  may  be  thus  summed  up : 

1.  They  immediately  knew  that  they  were  naked  ; 
and  hence  sought  to  conceal  their  shame  with  "aprons 
of  fig  leaves ,"f 

2.  They  became  obnoxious  to  all  kinds  of  infirmities 
and  sickness,  and  to  the  empire  of  death. 

3.  They  were  subjected  to  ignorance  and  concupis- 
cence. And  though  they  did  not  lose  freedom  of  will, 
they  found  it  debilitated  and  diminished  for  that  which 
is  good. 

4.  They  lost  the  empire  over  living  creatures  which 
had  been  given  to  them. 

5.  They  were  subjected  to  the  power  of  the  Devil. 

6.  To  Adam  God  said :  "  Because  thou  hast  heark- 
ened to  the  voice  of  thy  Avifc,  and  hast  eaten  of  the 
tree,  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldst  not 
eat,  cursed  is  the  earth  in  thy  work  ;  with  labour  and 
toil   thou  shalt   eat  thereof  all   the   days  of  thy  life. 

*  Enchiriil.  4.r>,  n.  13.  f  Gen.  iii :  7. 


if 


MB  i?F    MAxV. 

Thorns  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee ;  and 
thou  shat  eat  the  herbs  of  the  earth.  In  the  sweat  of 
thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  to  the 
earth  out  of  -which  thou  wast  taken."* 

To  the  woman  God  said:  "I  will  multiply  thy  sor- 
rows, and  thy  conceptions  :■  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring 
forth  thy  children,  and  thou  shalt  be  under  thy  hus- 
band's power,  and  he  shall  have  dominion  over  thee." 

7.  Both  were  expelled  from  the  terrestrial  paradise 
no  more  to  enter  it. 

&,  The  way  to  eternal  life  was  obstructed,  and  they 
deserved  etern'al  loss  and  punishment. 

The  concupiscence,  which  was  one  of  the  results  of 
their  transgression,  is  said  by  the  Apostle  St.  John  to 
be  threefold  in  its  nature  ;  viz:  "  the  concupiscence  of 
the  flesh,  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  ^ 
of  life."f  The  penalties  of  pride,  curiosity,  and  an 
inordinate  appetite  for  food,  were  visited  upon  them. 
They  lost  their  former  inclination  towards  good,  and 
experienced  a  great  propensity. to  evil. 

.And  for  their  long  line  ■  of  descendants  the  same  sad 
evils  were  made  "their  heritage  of  woe,"  because,  in 
the  incomprehensible  providence  of  God,  all  were  con- 
cluded in  the  first  parent  of  the  race,  as  we  are  taught 
by  revelation  :  "  By  one  man  sin  entered' into  this  world, 
and  by  sin  death ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men  in 
whom  all  have  sinned."! 

Of  the   Unity  'of  the  Human  Race. 

The  teaching  of  faith  has  always  been,  that  all  men 
are  the  offspring  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  Christian  doctrine  is  predicated  upon  this  truth 
of  the  unity  of  the  human  race.  There  is  only  one 
human  species,  whatever  speculations  naturalists  may 
indulge  concerning  the  varieties  and  discrepancies 
which  they  discover  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  dit- 
ferent  portions  of  the  globe.     The  characteristics  of 

*  Gen.  iii :   16,  17,  &cj   '     t  1  John  i-i :   16.         J  Rom.  V  :   1?. 


MAN.  21 

different  nations,  and. their  different  languages,  afford 
important  studies  and  investigations  to  the  mere  philos- 
opher, who  thinks  his  time  well  employed  in  establish- 
ing theories  of  the  philosophy  of  history,  but  the. chris- 
tian, who  lives  by  faith,  knows  that  all  theories  which 
conflict  with  catholic  doctrine,  however  plausible,  arc 
necessarily  fake.  Species  is  said  to  be  "  the  succession 
of  similar  individuate  that  reproduce  and  perpetuate 
themselves."  The  individuals  of  the  whole  human  fam- 
ily, however  diverse  in  characteristics  they  seem,  unite 
and  reproduce  by  generation,  with  a  continued  fecun- 
dity, which  establishes  the  unity  of  the  human  species, 
while  -science  shows  that  the  variety,  existing  among 
the  different  inhabitants  of  the  earth, -can  be  explained 
by  natural  causes.  ■  So  also  has  the  comparative  study 
of  languages  led  to  the  discovery  of  points  of  con- 
tact and  strict  relationship  and  affinity  among  them, 
and,  as  Cardinal  Wiseman  says,  this  science  in  its  pro- 
gress "  began  to  discover  new  affinities  where  least  ex- 
pected ;  till  by  degrees  many  languages  began  to  be 
grouped  and  classified  in  large  families,  acknowledged  to 
have  a  common  origin.  Then,  new  inquiries  gradually 
diminished  the  number  of  independent  languages,  and 
extended,  in  consequence,  the  dominion  of  the  larger 
masses.  At  length,  when  this  field  seemed  almost  ex- 
hausted,, a  new  class  of  researches  has  succeeded,  so 
far  as  it  has  been  tried,  in  proving  the  extraordinary 
affinities  between  these  families — affinities  existing  in 
the  very  character  and  essence  of  each  language,  so 
that  none  of  them  could  ever  have-  existed,  without 
those  elements  wherein  the  resemblances  consist.  Now, 
as  this  excludes  all  idea  of  one  having  borrowed  them 
from  the  other,  as  they  could  not  have  arisen  in  each 
by.  independent  processes  ;  and  as  the  radical  differ- 
ence among  the  languages  forbids  their  being  consider- 
ed dialects  or  offshoots  from  one  another,  we  are  driven 
to  the  conclusion,  that,  on  the  one  hand,  these  lan- 
guages must  have  originally  been  united  in  one,  whence 
they  draw  these  common  elements  essential  to  them  all; 
and,  on  the  other,  that   the  separation  between  them, 


2|  'OF   ORIGINAL   SIN. 

which  destroyed  other  no  less  important  elements  of  re- 
semblance, could  not  have  been  caused  by  any  gradual 
departure  or  individual  development — fur  these  we  have 
long  since  excluded — but  by  some  violent,  unusual,  and 
active  force,  sufficient  alone  to  reconcile  these  conflict- 
ing appearances,  and  to  account  at  once  fur  the  resem- 
blances, and  the  differences.  It  would  be  difficult,  rae- 
thinks,  to  sa}'  what  further  step  the  most  insatiable  or 
unreasonable  sceptic  could  require,  to  bring  the  resuks 
of  this  science  into  close  accordance  with  the  scriptural 
account."* 

''Ami  the   earth  was  one   tongue,  and   of  the   same 

■ch,"|  w<  ired  in  Genesis,  but  God  confoun- 

ded their  tongue,  and  so  scattered  them,  into  all  lands, 
and  hence  the  diversity  of  languages.      No  diversity  of 

racteristics  and  languages  can  ever  prove  a  div< 
ty   of   the   human   ap<  gainst  the  declaration   of 

Scripture  that   the   first  woman  was   called    /. 
cause  sherwas  the  mother  of  all  the  living."! 


UTER  IV. 

OF  ORIGINAL   SIN. 


That  all  the  posterity  of  Adam,  except  thi 
Virgin  mother  of  the  incarnate  God,  are  conceived  under 
the  guilt  and  penalties  of  the  .-in  of  Adam  and  i 
doctrine  of  faith.  Okioinal  sin  is  then,  as  the  name 
imports,  the  stain  and  disgrace  in  which  we  are  bom, 
because  of  the  sin  of  our  first  parents:  and  by  which 
we  are  made  obnoxious  to  sickness,  infirmities  death, 
ignorance  ;  to  the  threefold  concupiscence  before  spo- 

.ence  and  Revealed  Religion.  D;s.  2d.  p.  • 
dnvei  Ed.  U 

f  G-.'u.  xi.  J  Gen.  iii 


OF    ORIGINAL    SIN. 

ken  of,  and  even  slaves  of  the  Devil,  children  of  wrath, 
and  subject  to  eternal  perdition.  "St.  Paul  tells  the 
Ephesians  thai  they  "  were  by  nature  children  of  wrath, 
even  as  the  rest."*  "Behold,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "I 
was  conceived  in  iniquities,  and  in  Bin  did  roy  mother 
conceive  1110."!  And  holy  Job  asks  :  •"  Who  can  make 
him  clean  that  is  conceived  of  unclean  seed  ?  Is  it  not 
thou,  "who  only  art.VJ  "l>y  one  man  sin  entered  into 
this  world,  and  by  pin  death  ;  and  so  death  passed  upon 
all  men  in  whom  all  have  sinned. "§ 

Original  sin  is  a  mystery,  and  one  which  we  arc  neith- 
er able  nor  required  to  comprehend.  It  being  the  will 
of  Cod  to  conclude  all  their  posterity  under  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  first  parents,  it  must  have  been  right  and 
just,  since  God  cannot  be  otherwise  than  infinitely  just 
and  perfect.  "How  incomprehensible  are  his  judg- 
ments, and  how  unsearchable  his  ways."j  In  the  fifth 
and  sixth  sessions  of  the  council  of  Trent,  this  doctrine 
is  lucidly  declared  as  always  pertaining  to  Catholic 
faith.  It  is  shown  that  Adam's  fault  is  the  cause  and 
type  of  the  sin,  with  which  we  ure  born,  and  our  atten- 
tion is  called  particularly  to  three  things  :  1st.  The  act 
of  disobedience,  by  which  our  first  parents  transgress- 
ed the  precept  of  God  ;  2&Iy.  The  loss  of  the  sanctity 
and  justice  in  which  they  had  been  established,  as  the 
immediate  result  of  their  act  of  prevarication ;  3rdl}\ 
The  consequences  of  this  privation  of  sanctity  and  jus- 
tice, that  is  the  degradation  and  disorder  of  nature,  the 
degradation  of  soul  and  body,  and  finally  death,  which 
came  as  a  visible  and  material  avenger  of  this  revolt. 
AVhat'ravages  were  produced  in  man  by  ..this  primitive 
fault !  It  was  not  the  actual  fault  that  passed  to  the 
descendants  'of  Adam,  for  this  was  personal,  but  the 
direct  and  immediate  effects  of  the  actual  fault,  the 
loss  of  justice  and  sanctity ;  and  this  loss  or  privation 
of  justice  and  sanctity  is  sin,  which  is  the  death  of  the 
soul,  for  the  soul  is   thus  in   the  date  of  sin,  and  de- 

•  Ephes.  ii  :  3.  f  Ps.  L :  7.         +  Job  xiv  :  4.        §  Rom.  v  .  12. 

I!    Rom.  xi:  33. 


21  or    ORIGINAL    SIN. 

privcd  of  the  friendship  of  God,  and  of  union  with 
him,  which  constitutes  the  life  of  the  soul.  We  air 
born,  not  in  the  act  of  Bin,  but  in  the  state  of  sin  ;  for 
we'are  born  in  a  state  if  .rupture  and  separation  from 
-God,  deprived  of  the  justice  and  holiness  by  which  he 
wished  to  unite  man  to  himself.  And  this  state  or 
condition  is  propagated  with  our  race,  and  is  inherent 
with  each  individual  of  it:  for  the* human  nature  \ 
in  its.  head  or  fountain,  deprH  and 

holiness,  and  constituted  in  a  state  of  separation  from 
Go"d,  which  is  a  in  cause.     Who- 

ever  descends  from  Adam  is  bom  with  a  fallen  nature, 
and  in  a  i   frojfi   ( lod,  i  <■  of 

sin.  itidhj 

infants  are  1  .Hied  by 

:  -   of  purifying  them 
the 
friendship  of  God,  by  investing  them  with  and 

holiness,  the  life  of  thi  for  infants  as  well 

>r  adults.      Baptist  that  truly  and  prop- 

to  the  natur<  those 

who  Mere  born  "children  of  wrath,"  but 
not  remove  all  th  hat 

ring   his 
friendsh  all  the  privih 

■prions  he  fil  upon  man,  bl  him 

to  infirmities,  Bufferings,  and  death,  and  • 
to  that  concupiscenc  named  *//>. 

" it  i  ind  inch  and  which  in- 

duoesso  many  combats,  but  which  "can  never  hurt  thote 
wh 

The  council  of  teaches   that  the  children  of 

Adam  can  only  recover  justice  and  holiness,  and  merit 
i.al  life  through  the  merits  and  L'i'3' 

>ur,  but  that  lost  freedom  of  will, 

which  was  weakened  though  not  d  I  by  Bin,  and 

that  the  actions  of  man  in  his  fallen  state,  perfoi 
without  grace,  are  not  necessarily  sin-,  an  1  deserving  of 

have  falsely  ta\,_ 


rftCXiSE    Of    A    RBBEEMER,  .  %$ 

CHAPTER  V, 

THE   MERCIFUL   PROMISE   OF   A   REDEEMER, 

There  remained  no  hope  for  the  reparation  of  the 
evil  consequences  of  sin,  except  in  the  mercy  of  God. 
Man,  of  himself,  had  ho  means  of  adequate  expiation, 
and  no  sufficient  force  to  ri.-^  from  his  degradation. 
But  God  was  merciful,  as  man  had  fallen  under  the  se- 
duction of  a  power  superior  to  himself;  and  God  said 
to  the  serpent,  the  representative  and  instrument  of 
that  evil  spirit:  "I  will  put  enmities  between  thee  and 
the  woman,  and  thy  seed  and  her  seed  ;  she  shall  crush 
thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  lie  in  wait  for  her  heel."*  To 
Eve  the  mother  of  our  race,  God  thus  gave  promise  of 
victory  and  reparation. 

This  promise  concerned  the  whole  human  race,  and 
hence  with  all  the  nations  i  f  the  earth,  historians  have 
found  evidences  of  the  expectation  of  a  gage,  a  deliverer, 
a  restorer,  a  redeemer.  A  universal  tradition  descend- 
ed everywhere  among  human  generations,  encouraging 
the  hope  of  a  saviour,  who,  by  expiation,  should  re- 
store peaoe  and  happiness  to  men,  and  inaugurate  the 
golden  age.  The  ignorance  and  error,  introduced  by 
idolatry  into  different  nations,  obscured  this  tradition, 
among  all  except  the  people  of  God,  but  obliterated  it 
among  none  of  them.  In  their  ignorance  and  blind- 
ness, most  of  them  multiplied  mediators  between  them- 
selv.es  and  the  Deity ;  they  made  the  planets  and  stars 
the  dwelling  places  of  intelligences,  who,  as  they  sup- 
posed, regulated  their  motions,  and  whom  they  sought 
to  propitiate  by  their  vows  and  prayers  ;  but  many  also 
felt  the  insufficiency  of  such  mediators,  and,  with  more 
correct  knowledge  of  the  first  traditions  of  the  race, 
hoped  that  God  himself  would  como  to  their  aid,  and 
enlighten  them  concerning  the  worship  He  desired,  and 

•  G o n   ii'i  : 


t6  PBOMI*E   OF  A  &I»D£EM£ii. 

furnish  the  means  of  remedying  tho  evils  of  corrupted 
nature. 

"  Among  all  nation?,"  Bays  Prideux,  "  from  the  be- 
ginning, the  expectation  of  a  mediator  between  God 
and  man  was  a  reigning  opinion."* 

Concerning  the  {'act  of  this  tradition  all  arc  agreed, 
and  even  infidel  writers,  such  as  Boulanger,  Voltaire, 
Volney,  and  others,  admil  h  universal  existence.  The 
subordinate  God  of  the  Egyptians,  the  chief  of  celes- 
tial spirits,  called  71"  i  the  Mithra  of  the  1 
Bians,  were  but  forms  of  tin-  tradition.  One  of  the 
..:  died  the  la viour 
■  a. 

The  Aral-  expected  .  irho  Mas  to  save  the 

nations:  and  even  in  China,  the  belief,  that  the  primi- 
tive religion,  which  had  been  corrupted,  Bhould  be  re- 
stored by  one  ;<•  come,  has  be<  d  found  among  tlie  the- 
ological opinions  of  that  | 

The  impossibility  of  men,  <i  1  h.  Tf.-*-lvt  -.  finding  out 
true  Wisdom,  and  the  nee  ,  >ematural  track- 

er, to  inform  them  what  should  he  their  sentiments  to- 
wards God  and  I  .  was  taught  by  Pla- 
to, who,  in  hia  secoi  I  '  •  the  opinion  in 
the  mouth  of  Socratc  |  (j  in  his  4th  Eclogue,  re- 
fers to  the  sam<  «  i  ctation  of  the  advent  of  a  divino 
infant,  -who  should  rest)  :■  order,  efface  crime,  and  de- 
liver the  earth  from  fear  ;  so  that  the  promised  redeem- 
er wa?  truly,  as  is  declared  in  Genesis,  "the  expecta- 
tion of  nations." 

And  strange  to  say.  a:-  the  moment  approached.  wh<  n 
the  earth  should  see  all  these  ations  fulfilled,  tho 

themselves  insensihly  hecamo  more  act 
And  especially  among  the  Jews,  about  the  timo  of  the 
advent  of  Jesus  Chri  ere  such  an  exciten. 

about  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  as  to  arouse  the  at- 
tention of  the  pagans  to    th<    fact,  that,  through  the 


*  Hisl  of  t!i<^  Jews 

f  D  I  X v      ted  liy 

1 


PROMISE    01     A    RJT.ELMEK.  -' 

Messiah,  they  hoped  their  nation  should  hold  the  em- 
pire of  the  world.     r|'  I  y,  and  Sue- 
tonias,t  in  his  work  on  \  i  ;pasian,  show  this  fact.    1'ut 
centuries  were  to  ela]             ore   this    ;  of  God 
should   be  fulfilled.     The   earth  was  i               men  in- 
creased in  •numbers  and  became  daily  more  and  more 
corrupt,  until  the  anger  of  God  was  visited  upon  them 
by  that  universal  deluge,  the  account  of  which  is  given 
to  us  in  the  book?   of  Moses,  and  of  which,  the  early 
traditions  of  all  nations,  and  tin1  discoveries  of  science, 
bear  indubitable  testimony,     in  the   ark,  which  Noah 
erected  under  the  express  command   of  God,  eight  hu- 
man beings  were  preserved  from  this  dread  catastrophe. 
This  event  occurred  in  the  year   1<»-3G,  from  the  cre- 
ation of  the  world.      In  the  ark,  besides  Noah,  his  wife, 
his  three  sons  and  their  w                 i  bad  caused  two  and 
two  of  all  flesh,  and  living  things,  and  fowls,  and  birds, 
and  ci-eeping  things,  to  be  preserved.     And   from   the 
ark,  did  all  .these  come  forth  after  the  deluge,  and  the 
earth  was  again  repeopled  by  Noah  and   his  descend- 
ants.    Our  race  had  so   multiplied   in   a  hundred  and 
one  years,  that  they  proposed  to  separate,  and   divide 
themselves  oyer  the  earth.     But  first   they  desired  to 
erect  a  tower,  which  should  reach  to  the  heavens,  as  if 
they  distrusted  the  pledge  of  God,  when  he  set,  in  the 
clouds^  the   rainbow  of  bis   promise,  not  again   to  sub- 
merge the  earth  with  a  deluge.     This  towTer  received  the 
name  of  Babel,  because  God  descended,  and  confound- 
ed  the  audacity  of  men,  by  confusing  their  speech  so 
that  they  could  not  understand   each  other.     Thus  a 
separation  was  rendered  necessary;  and  nations,  with 
different  languages,  began  to  be  found  in  different  parts 
of  the  earth. 

This  chastisement  did  not  cause  men  to  become  bct- 


*  Pliirihns  persuasio  inerat  nntiquis  saoerciotum  litteris  c.ontine- 
ri,  eo  ipso  tempore  lore  m  valescerel  Oriens,  profectique  Juilea.  re- 
ruin  potiientur.     Hist.  lib.  v.  No.  \iii. 

t  Percrebnemt  Orient*  toto.  retus  «'tcon5tau8  opinio  esse  in  fatis, 
nt  eo  tewiperrs  Ja>!eA  profecti,  re  rum  potirentur.  Suet,  in  Vespasi- 
iiuum. 


r*  PROMISE    Of    A    gB&EJtfftft. 

zer.     On  the  contrary,  with  a  few  exceptions,  they  be- 
came more  or  less  forgetful  of  the  truths  traditional 
among  them,  and,  falling  into  idolatry,  began  to  adore 
creatines  instead  of  God.      Leaving  them  in  their  cor- 
ruption, God  commenced  to  prepare  for  himself  a  cho- 
sen people.  He  selected  Abraham,  before  sailed  Abram., 
to  be  the  father  of  believers,  and  made  a  covenant  with, 
him,  and  appointed  circumcision,  the  figure  of  baptism, 
as  a  sign  for  the  consecration  of  his  posterity  as  his 
peculiar  servants.     The  Jews,  or  Israelites,  the  poster- 
ity of  Abraham  through  Isaac  and  Jacob,  became  the 
chosen  people  of  God,  the  preservers  of  the  traditions 
of  the  human  race,'and  of  God's  primitive  revelations 
to  men,  and  had  the  special  mission  to  preserve  the 
hope  of  man's  redemption.     But,  excepting  the  patri- 
archs and  some  others  who  were  figures  of  the  expect- 
ed Messiah,  the  most  of  them  lived  so  negligently  and 
perversely,  that  God  determined  to  renew  the  promul- 
gation of  his  law  in  a  most  striking  manner.     This  oc- 
curred about  the  year  of  the  world  2513,  and  about 
1491  years  before  Jesus  Christ.     With  great  solemnity 
ypon  Mount  Sinai,  God  gave,  to  his  servant  Moses,  his 
holy  law,  written  on  tablets  of  stone,  to  be  promulga- 
ted to  the  people,  and  gave  special  directions  to  Moses 
as  to  the  sacrifices,  ceremonies,  and   rites  of  religion. 
These  ceremonies  and  rites  were  to  be  shadows  and  fig- 
ures to  be  fulfilled  under  the  new  law  of  grace,  which 
should  be  promulgated  by  the  Saviour,  when  he  should 
arrive  ;  as  also  th»e  sacrifices  were  to  be  figures  of  his 
sacrifice.     The  people  generally  failed   to  correspond 
with  the  merciful  designs  of  God,  who,  by  favors  and 
chastisements,    endeavoured  to    conduct    them    in   the 
paths  of  truth  and  virtue..     To  effect  this  purpose, 
well  as  for  the  benefit  of  the  nations  of  the  future,  V 
should  be  the  inheritance  of  his  divine  Son,  he  raised 
up  a  long  line  of  prophets,  through  whom  he  more  di 
tinctly  renewed  his  promises  of  a  Saviour,  and  gave  of 
him  such  detailed  characteristics,  that  when  he  should 
come,  he  might  be  easily  recognised.     Of  these  proph- 
ets, greater  and.  less,  there  were  sixteen  who  were  thus 


PflOMISE    Of    A    REDEEMER.  29 

sent  to  instruct  the  people,  and  to  predict  to  them  fu- 
ture events,  of  which  tho  world  has  since  beheld  the 
fulfillment, 

Man's  ingenuity  has  led  him  to  enquire,  why  Cod  so 
long  delayed  to  fulfill  his  promise  of  sending  the  re- 
deemer? To  this  question,  theologians  give  a  satis- 
factory answer.  They  Bay  that  God  had  sufficient  mo- 
tives for  this  delay. — First,  he  wished  men  to  know,  by 
a  sad  and  long  experience,  the  need  they  had  of  a 
teacher  and  Saviour ;  2dly,  that  knowing  their  need, 
they  might  ardently  desire  and  sigh  for  his  advent,  and, 
with  ardent  prayers,  beg  this  blessing  from  God,  as  did 
the  patriarchs  and  prophets;'  Srdly,  that  before  his 
coming,  he  might  make  known,  through  his  prophets, 
all  the  circumstances  regarding  him,  and  the  changes 
he  was  to  produce  on  the  earth  :  lastly,  that  we  Chris* 

08  might  be  secure  of  the  truth  of  our  holy  religion, 
seeing  and  believing  that  what  was   so  long  predicted, 
n  so  wonderfully  and  exactly  fulfilled,  and  what 
v.  as  shown  in  figure  has  been  accomplished  in  reality. 

All  the  Old  Testament  is  full  of  figures,  commencing 
with  the  fall  of  Adam  and  the  promise  of  a  redeemer 
in  the  beginning  of  the  hit  our  race.  '  The  two 

children  of  Adam,  Cain  and  Abel,  are  figures,  Cain, 
of  the  Jewish  people,  and  Abel,  of  Jesus  Christ.  Cain 
the  senior,  and  the  Hebrews  were  before  Jesus 
Christ  according  to  his  temporal  birth.  Cain  was  a 
tiller  of  the  soil,  an  image  of  the  Jews  attached  to  the 
goods  of  the  earth.  Abel  had  the  office  of  shepherd, 
rist  is  "  the  good  shepherd."  Cain  honor- 
ed God  only  with  his  lips,  as  did  the  Jews;  "this  | 
pie  honors  me  with,  their  lips."  Abel  offered  himself 
to  God  v  ith  bis 

■;  and  his  saci  ifices,  i  I  the 

'ifice 

i  caused 

death   of  Abel,  and    the  dew-    through   envy,  put 

t,  their   brother,  The    blood  of 

\'    !  oried  on!  For  ven«K«.ncc  .  •■■        Oaii  *  1  lood 


80  PROMISE   or   A   REDEEMER. 

of  Jesus  Christ  cries  out  for  vengeance  against  th© 
Jews,  and  against  sinners,  who,  by  their  sins,  render  it 
useless.  Cain,  in  chastisement,  leads  a  vagabond  life, 
and  has  a  sign  put  on  him  that  he  might  not  be  killed. 
And  the  Jews,  exiled  from  their  Kingdom,  go  w'ander- 
ing  through  the  whole  world,  bearing  the  mark  of  cir- 
cumcision. 

But  another  question  has  also  been  asked,  in  view  of 
this  long  delay  of  centuries  in  the  coming  of  the  Sa- 
viour of  men.  What  possibility  of  salvation  for  all 
those  men,  who,  born  in  the  interval,  with  the  guilt  of 
original  sin,  and  becoming  guilty  of  other  sins,  are 
also  incapable  of  satisfying  divine  justice  ?  To  this 
question  it  is  answered,  that,  according  to  Catholic 
teaching,  from  the  very  moment  God  made  the  promise 
of  the  redeemer,  the  most  happy  results  commenced  to 
flow  from  it,  and,  from  that  moment,  the  redeemer  be- 
gan to  aid  man  and  to  reconcile  him  with  God.  Jesus 
Christ  takes  rule  over  all  time.  "He  is  to  day, yester- 
day and  forever.'"*  He  is  "the  lamb  that  was  slain 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world. "f  From  the  begin- 
ning, he  offered  himself  to  the  divine  justice  to  recon- 
cile men  to  his  Father.  "  Let  them  cease  their  com- 
plaints," exclaims  St.  Leo  the  great,  "who  unworthily 
calumniate  divine  Providence,  accusing  it  of  so  long 
having  retarded  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  as  if  anterior 
ages  had  not  received  the  fruit  of  the  mysteries,  real- 
ized in  the  last  ages  of  the  world.  For  the  incarnation 
of  the  Word,  has,  before  its  accomplishment,  produced 
what  it  has  produced  since;  and  never,  even  in  the 
most  distant  antiquity,  was  the  mystery  of  salva- 
tion without  its  fruit.  What  the  Apostles  preached, 
the  prophets  have  announced ;  and  that  which  has  al- 
ways been  believed,  could  not  be  regarded  as  accom- 
plished too  late."!  "It  is  not  therefore  by  a  new  de- 
sign, or  a  tardy  compassion,  that  God  has  provided  for 
human   affairs ;  but,  from  the  origin  of   the  world,  he 


*  Heb.  xiii:  8,  f  Apoc.  xiii:  8. 

{  "Nee  sevo  est  iixipletttm,  quod  si  inj  et  ■■•-  i  r<  Jiluni."' 


PROMISE    OF    A    REDEEMER.  31 

has  established  for  all  men,  one  only  and  the  same 
cause  of  salvation.  The  grace  of  God,  by  which  the 
saints  of  all  times  have  been  justified,  has,  without 
doubt,  increased  by  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  it  is 
not  then  that  it  commenced.  * 

Instead  of  viewing  Jesus  Christ,  as  infidels  do,  as  a 
sort  of  accident  in  the  life  of  humanity,  an  extraordi- 
nary personage,  appearing  and  disappearing  on  an  iso- 
lated point  iu  history,  Catholic  doctrine  considers  him 
as  occupying  the  whole  history  of  humanity ;  as  the 
centre  of  all  in  the  moral  and  religious  order,  and  at- 
taching all  to  himself.  "For  in  him,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"were. all  things  created,  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  visi- 
ble and  invisible,  whether  thrones,  or  dominations,  or 
principalities,  or  powers ;  all  things-  were  created  by 
Mm  and  in  him.  And  he  is  before  all,  and  by  him  all 
things  consist.  And  he  is  the  head  of  the  body  of  the 
church,  who  is  the  beginning,  the  first  born  from  the 
dead;  that  in  all  things  he  may  hold  the  primacy ;  be- 
cause in  him  it  hath  well  pleased  the  Father,  thai  -'ill 
fullness  should  dwell:  and  through  him  to  reconcile  all 
things  to  himself,  making  peace  through  the  blood  of 
his  cross,  both  as  to  the  things  on  earth,  and  the  things 
thai  are  in  heaven. "f  The  Saviour  is  then  all  in  alJ, 
and,  "through  the  blood  of  his  cross,"  comes  all  recon- 
ciliation •t'twecn  God  and  men.  He  is  the  head  of  the 
Church,  which,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the 
consummation  of  all  things,  brings  individuals  into  union 
with  him;  the  source  of  all  grace  to  fallen  humanity. 

St.  Paid  testifies,  that  God  "will  have  all  men  to  be 
saved  ;"  and  hence  Catholic  doctors  teach,  that  he  of- 
fers the  moans  of  salvation  to  all  rften.  As  St.  Thom- 
as declares:  "  God  wishes  all  men  to  be  saved,  and 
therefore  grace  is  wanting  to  no  one,  but  communi- 
cates itself  to  all,  as  far  as  is  in  it."|     The  necessity  of 

•  Sermo  de  Nativitatt  Domini,     Migne's  Edition. 
t  Col.  ch.  i  :    16-20. 

|  In  Ep.  ad  Hu-br.  c.  12,  lect.  3.     Dens  vnlt  orane?  homines  sal- 
Bon,'  et  ideo  gratia  nulli  deest.  sed  omnibus,  quantum  in  ss  e^t, 


32  PEOtMBE    or    A    REDEEMER. 

faitli  u  the  foundation  and  root  of  justification,  is  a 

■    itliolic  dpctrine,  for  "with"  it  faith  it  is  im| 
eibla  te  ;  '     But  the  faith,  required  of  th 

who  lived  before  Jesus  Christ,  appears  from  the  defla- 
tion of  St.  Paul,  to  be  faith  in  God.  arder  to 
t/iem  that  seek  him.  "He  that  cometfc  to  (rod  must 
believe  that  he  is,  and  is  a  rewardcr  to  them  that  seek 
hiro,"t  says  the  Apor' 

A  beltet  in  divine  |  rid   :;    belief  in  G 

as  the  liberator  of  mi  :  Leasing 

to  himself,  in  in   implicit  faith   in   the  medial 

by  vliom  only  1.  and  !.•  i<:h  the 

Jem  had  to  b    ■■  re  and  the 

Genl  1  by  th(  law,  but 

according  to  the  natural  law,  "written  in  their  1 
To  this  natural  law,  tl 

"  The  light  of  thy  countenam       I  pon 

us,"£  and  by  it  of  the   natural  law,  and    aided 

by  the  sufficient  grace  which   l 
the    merits  of  <  Ihrist, 

only  God,   ereator  of   the  ui  rve,  and 

love  him  :  could  love  their 

neighbour  as  then  all  injustice,  and 

live  according  to  com  3dly. 

They  could  exp<  i 1  the  n  him,  in  pro- 

portion •'.  :  "vs itli  the  trading,  which 

sounivers  b;  the  nations,  and  thus,  abstain 

from  the  worship  o^  idols,  they  were  able  to  .secure 

vation,  or  the  Bupremcg L:  >nor  m 

to  every  one  te   the  Jew  fir*t.  ano* 

also  to  the  Gre<  b 

Bat  how   maw  among  ho  prece 

com 

et  that  remain-  with  himself. 

It  may  be  of  utility,  bei  luding  this  chapter, 

to  indicate  some  of  the  prophecies  made  regarding  the 


*Heb.  xi  :  6.         f  He  |  : 

Rom.  ii 


PR0MT8E    0]     ^  I    [KR.  '■'■■'< 

.  and  which   I  Q  so  marvellously  accom- 

plished in  Jesus  Christ.     When  the  patriarch  J. 
was  about  to  die,  he  said   to  his   sons:    "The  sceptre 
u  away  from  Juda,  i  tiller  from 

hi.-:  thigh,  till  he  come  that  is  sent,  and  he  Aall 

he  the  expectation  of  nations."*  Eighteen  centuries 
have  passed  since  the  authority,  which  Juda  was  to 
hold  until  the  a<lvent  of  the  Messiah,  was  taken  away 
by  the  usurpation  of  Herod,  the  stranger,  and  Jerusa- 
lem itself  boom  afterward*  troyed  and  the  polit- 
ical existence  of  the  Jewish  nation  was  extinguished. 
Between  fhe  loss  of  the  sceptre  and  the  ruin  of  the  na- 
tion, stands  the  one  who  was  to  be  sent  as  "the  expec- 
tation of  nations,"  and  Jacob's  prediction  fulfilled  in- 
dicates Jesu?,  the  Saviour.  "And  there  shall  come 
forth  a  rod  out  of  the  root  of  Jesse,"  writes  Isaias, 
"and  a  flower  shall  rise  up  out  of  his  root,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him."t  "And  thou 
Bethlehem  Ephrata  art  a  little  one  among  the  thous- 
ands of  Juda  :  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me 
that  is  to  be  the  ruler  in  Israel,  and  his  going  forth  is 
from  the  beginning,  from  the  eternity. "|  Zae- 
ariah  speaks  of  him  as  the  king  of  peace,  as  the  Sa- 
viour King,  and  mentions  the  mode  of  his  entry  into 
the  city  of  Jerusalem. §  Isaias  shows  how  the  JeA\s  will 
reject  him,  how  they  will  be  chastised,  and  how  the 
Gentiles  will  he  converted ?|j  Daniel  indicates  the  time 
when  the  people  shall  renounce  him,  put  him  to  death, 
and  cca^e  to  he  his  people. r;  Osee  tells  the  consequent 
condition  of  the  Jews :  "  For  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  sit  many  days  without  king,  and  without  prince, 
and  without  sacrifice,  and  without  altar,  and -without 
Ephod,  and  without  Theraphim*"**  What  a  wonderful 
fulfillment  of  this  prophecy  in  the  history  of  this  ex- 
traordinary people  for  eighteen  centuries  :  existing  dis- 
tinct amid  nations  hut  with  no  nationality,  like  waters 


*  Gen.  xlix  :  10.  t  Isaias,  ob.  xi  :  1.  J  Micbeas,  oh.  v  :  2. 
§  Zacharias.  ch.  iv  :  9.  ||  Isaia?.  cli.  vi  :  9,  &c.  If  Daniel  c.  ix  . 
v.  26.         **  0?ee,  c!>.  iii  :    4. 


I  I  UK    [JTl  A  RATIOS'. 

that  refose  to  mingle  vrith  the  ocean,  and  in  desolation, 
becanse  they  have  neither  sacrifice  nor  altar,  and 

fining  that  their  Messiah,  whom  their  nation  has 
always  ejected,  is  yet  to  come!  They  have  even 
li\«l  to  dwell  amid  n  people  who  consider  it  a  glory 
and  a  boast  that  they  themselves  have  "no  sacrifice 
and  no  altar,"  which  then  d  i  t' 

ruin  and  desolation. 


CHAPTEB   \  I. 

:  -- -Tin:    r\«  LBVATIOH — I 

HOD,  01    IS  \  IK'ilN Till.  .  1  I < •  N  — 

TH1 

The  <  latholic  doctrine,  rega  : 

int.-  chiefly  :    1st.  l\.  .  or   "  tl 

all    the   distinctive   truth 

■ 
believetb  in  him, 
iu:i\  -h.  but  d  Use: 

"And  the  word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  u 
"The  word  was  made  flesh." — Tl 

ii  of  the  most  h 
human  nature  and  united  it  t<i  himself  in  a  by  post: 
or  personal  union  :  and  this 
carnation,    believed   ami    professed    I  I 

Church. 

irnation   is  then  al  unioi   of  the 

ith  the  human  natoi 
.   • 
.  man,  tl, 

*  John  iii     16.        f  John  i  •  14 


rtr 

the  divin •  It  is  defined  thus':  The  h yposta 

union  of  the  divine  and  human   natures  in  the  uniqui 

on  of  the  Word  mad"   flesh,  called   Jesus  Christ. 
The  doctrine  of  the  church  concerning  this  mystery  is 

found  in   this   definition,   as   shown   in   the    Apr..-.- 
Cree"d,  and  is  expressed  with  more  development  in  the 
creed  called  the  Athanasian. 

In  the  last  named  creed,  we  read  thus  :  k'It  is  neces- 
sary for  eternal  salvation  to  believe  faithfully  in  the 
Incarnation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Now  the  true 
faith  is,  that  we  believe  and  confess  that  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  God  and  man.  He  is  God, 
being  begotten  from  the  substance  of  the  Father  before 
all  ages;  and  he  is  man,  being  born  of  the  substance 
of  hi<  mother  m  time.      /'  God,  perfect  man,  be- 

ing  a  reasonable  soul  and  a  human  flesh.  Equal  to  the 
Father  according  to  the  divinity,  and  inferior  to  the 
Father  according  to  the  humanity.  Although  he  is 
God  and  man,  there  are  not  however  two  Christs,  but 
there  is  only  one  Christ.  One,  not  that  the  divinity 
has  been  changed  into  the  humanity,  but  because  God 
has  taken  the  humanity  and  united  it  to  his  divinity. 
One,  therefore,  not  by  confusion  of  the  substance,  but 
by  unity  of  the  person.  For  as  the  reasonable  soul 
and  the  body  are  only  one  man,  so  God  and  man  are 
only  one  Christ." — Creed  of  St.  Athanasius. 

In  this  profession  of  faith  there  are  three  distinct 
points  enunciated.  1st.  The  divine  nature  of  Jesus 
Christ ;■  2nd.  His  human  nature ;  ordly.  The  union  of 
these  two"  natures  in  one  only  person,  which  is  the  di- 
vine person  of  the  Word.  This  doctrine  also  includes 
the  following  consequences:  1st,  from  the  union  of  the 
two  natures  in  one  person,  it  follows  that  Christ,  ac- 
cording to  the  properties  of  either  nature,  can  at  one 
time  be  said  to  be  equal  to  the  Father,  as  he  says  of 
himself:  "  I  and  the  Father  arc  one,"  *  since  this  is 
true  of  his  divine  nature.  And  at  another  time  that 
he  is  less  than  the  Father,  as  when  he  says :  "  The 

•John  x     30, 


o6  THJE   INCARNATION. 

Father  is  greater  than  I;"*  which  is  true  of  Ids  hu- 
man nature. 

2dly,  That,  speaking  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  may  at- 
tribute to  God  what  pertains  to  man.  and  to  man  what 
pertains  to  God,  because  he  is  the  same  person,  who  is 
at  the  same  time  God  and  man.  Thus  we  may  say  that 
God  suffered,  died,  arose  again ;  or  say  that  he  is  man, 
is  the  son  of  God,  or  is  God.  This  consequence  theo- 
logians indicate  by  the  term  communication  of  idioms* 
Srdly,  That  as  #nly  the  person  of  the  Son  became  in- 
carnate, and  the  three  persons  in  the  Godhead  are  dis- 
tinct from  each  other  as  persons,  we  cannot  say  either 
of  the  Father,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  He  became 
incarnate,  or  suffered,  or  died,  because  the  conjunction 
of  the  divine  and  human  natures  only  took  place  in  the 
person  of  the  Son,  and  not  in  that  of  the  Father  or  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  4thly,  That  because  in  Jesus  Christ, 
there  are  united  two  distinct  intelligent  natures,  there 
are  also  two  distinct  wills,  the  divine  and  human,  with 
a  perfect  coherence  between  the  two,  the  less  perfect 
being  always  subordinate  to  the  more  perfect,  the  hu- 
man to  the  divine. 

We  are  to  believe  this  mystery  and  the  consequences 
which  it  includes,  because  it  is  revealed  to  us  by  God, 
but  we  can  neither  imagine  how  this  union  is  accom- 
plished, nor  can  our  reason  comprehend  or  understand 
it.  God  does  not  require  us  to  understand  it,  but  to 
receive  it  with  the  homage  of  faith.. 

The  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  clearly  revealed  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  instance  :  "As  the  Father 
raiseth  up  the  dead  and  giveth  life :  so  the  Son  also 
giveth  life  to  whom  he  will.  For  neither  doth  the 
Father  judge  any  man  ;  but  hath  given  all  judgment  to 
the  Son.  That  all  men  may  honour  the  Son  as  they 
honour  the  Father,"  John  v.:  21,  &c.  Again:  "For 
as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself ;  so  hath  he  given  to 
the  Son  also  to  have  life  in  himself."  lb.,  vs.  2t>.  Also 
St.  John's  declaration:  ••The  Word  was  God; — The 

*John  xiv .  *'S. 


THE   INCARNATION.  37 

\Vord  was  made  "flesh."  Ch.  1.  Also,  "No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time:  the  only  begotten  Son,  who  is 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him." 
John  1 :  18.  It  was  not  as  man,  but  as  his  Son  in  his 
bosom,  that  he  knew  him  :  he  knew  the  Father,  because 
he  is  God  himself,  and  the  true  Sou  of  God.  Again : 
"  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners 
spoke  by  the  prophets,  last  of  all  in  these  days  hath 
spoken  to  us  by  his  Son,  by  whom  also  he  made  the 
world.".  Heb.,  ch.  1:  v.  1,  2.  It  is  then  he  who 
created  all  things. 

The  apostle  who,  in  his  gospel,  so  sublimely  states 
tthe  d»gma  of  the  divinity  of  the  Word,  and  that  he  be- 
came flesh,  in  his  first  epistle  says :  "  That  which  was 
from|he  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which  we 
have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon, 
and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  Word  of  life," — 
"  We  have  seen  and  do  bear  witness  and  declare  to  you 
the  eternal  life  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  hath 
appeared  to  us."  That  is  to  say:  the  Word,  who  is 
eternal  life,  hath  appeared  to  us,  and  we  declare  him 
to  you,  "  that  you  may  have  felloAvehip  with  us,  and 
that  our  fellowship  may  be  with  the  Father,  and  with 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ."  1  John,  ch.  1,  2,  3.  "  Who  is 
he  that  overcometh  the  world,  but  he  that  believeth  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God."  1  Ep.,  v.  5.  Be- 
sides, Jesus  declares  to  his  friends  that  he  is  God :" 
"  Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  you,  but  my 
Father,  who  is  in 'Heaven."  Math.  xvi.  He  declares 
it  to  the  multitude :  "  It  is  my  Father  who  glorifieth 
me — Amen!  .Amen!  I  say  unto  you  before  Abraham 
was  made,  I  am;"  and  thus  claims  to  be  self-existent, 
and,  therefore,  God.  John  viii.  He  declares  the  same 
before  the  tribunals  of  the  country,  when  adjured  :  "  I 
adjure  thee  by  the  Jiving  God,  that  thou  tell  us  if  thou 
be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  Jesus  saith  to  him  : 
Thou  hast  said  it."  Math,  xxvi.:  63.  And  the  answer 
in  St.  Mark  is  more  direct.  "And  Jesus  said  to  him  : 
I  am ;  And  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  power  of  God,  and  coining  with 


88  TI1E    INCARNATION. 

the  clouds  of  Heaven."  Marie  xiv. :  62..  All  his  life 
and  acts  to  the  end  "were  in  harmony  with  his  claim  to 
be  equal  to  God. 

The  Mother  of  God. — The  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  - 

Having  determined  to  manifest  himself  to  man  in  the 
flesh  with  a  real  human  body,  God  selected  the  most 
excellent  of  human  creatures  for  his  mother,  a  youDg 
and  holy  virgin,  descended  from  the  royal  line  of  David, 
but  poor  and  unknown.  -From  her  womb,  he  assumed 
the  substance  of  human  nature,  and  united  it,  in*  some 
incomprehensible  manner,  in  his  divine  personality,  with 
the  divine  substance,  which  he  received -from  all  eter- 
nity by  generation  from  the  Father,  and  thus,  being 
the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  the  Father,  in  his  divine 
nature,  he  became  the  only  son  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  in 
his  human  nature,  and  being  at  the  same  time  God  and 
man,  but  only  one  person,  his  virgin  mother  became 
truly  "  Mother  of  God."  From  her  he  received  the 
body  which  fitted  him  to  be  the  redeemer  of  the  human 
race. 

The  divine  maternity  of  Mary,  in  whom  only  are 
found  maternity  and  virginity,  is  then  a  capital  tenet  of 
Catholic  faith,  placing  her  with  her  divine  Son  in  the 
centre  of  the  circle  of  Christian  dogmas. 

A  creature  privileged  above  all  others,  she  is  enrich- 
ed with  all  graces,  endowed  with  glorious  titles  and  pre- 
rogatives, and  exalted  above  all  creatures,  above  angels 
as  well  as  saints.  *• 

She  not  only  justly  bears  the  title  of  mother  of  God, 
but,  in  becoming  mother,  remained  a  virgin,  and  de- 
served and  wears  the  title  of  ever  a  virgin.  Though 
Jesus  Christ,  in  the  Scriptures,  is  represented  as  calling 
certain  persons  his  brothers,  yet  it  was  only  according 
to  the  Jewish  custom  of  speech,  which  gave  this  name 
to  cousins  and  other  near  relations,  and  not  that  his 
mother  ever  gave  birth  to  other  children.  And  the 
Scriptures  themselves   show  who  -were  the  mothers  of 


v  TMi;    IN''  AliX.A  1  [ON.  89 

these   person?,    thus   designated    as    the   brothers    of 
Jesus. 

It  is  also  the  faith  nf  the  Catholic  church,  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary  never  sullied  her  soul  with  the 
stain  of  actual  sin,  even  venial  sin.  This  was  a  special 
privilege  granted  to  the  holy  mother  of  Cod. 

It  has  also  been  generally  of  Catholic  belief,  and  in 
our  ovrn  daya  has  been  defined  as  an  article  of  faith, 
that  God  gave  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  the  extra- 
ordinary privilege  of  exemption  from  the  Brain  of  origi- 
nal sin.  It  is  defined,  as  of  divine  revelation,  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  in  the  first  instant  of  her  con- 
ception in  the  womb  of  her  mother,  "  by  a  special  grace 
and  privilege  of  God  omnipotent,  in  view#f  the  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  human  race,  has 
been  preserved  and  exempted  from  all  stain  of  original 
sin."  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  CcnLcep- 
tion  of  the  Virgin  Mother  of  God." 

Before  this  definition  was  made,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Immaculate  "Conception  was  in  the  same  condition  as 
the  doctrine  of  her  assumption  into  Heaven  is,  at  pres- 
ent. It  was  believed  by  the  children,  of  the  church, 
and  had  its  appropriate  place  in  the  Calendar  of  feasts 
ami  its  proper  day  and  mass,  just  as  the  Assumption 
now  has,  and  pious  Catholics  devoutly  believed  that 
Mary  had  received  this  extraordinary  privilege,  and 
prayed  that  a  definition  should  be  given  to  the  world 
by  the  voice- of  the  church.  When  defined,  they  re- 
ceived no  new  point  of  faith,  hut  an  authorized  defini- 
tion-of  what  already  they  believed. 

As  Mary  is  the  mother  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  was 
made  so  by  the  overshadowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  she 
is  rightly  styled  the  spouse  of  the  Eternal  Father,  and 
the  sanctuary  of  the  lloly  Ghost.  The  mutual  love  of 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  which  in  God  is  infinite  and  per- 
fect, and,  therefore,  personal,  and  who  is  the  third  pcr- 


*  Defined  in  Dec'br.  1834.  The  Council  of  Trent,  in  its  decree 
concerning  original  sin,  declared  :  that  it  is  not  ita  intention  to  in- 
etude  the  Blessed  Virgin. —  Sesa.  v. 


40  .  Til  L    1X<'U;  NATION. 

son  of  the  Adorable  Trinity,  came  upon.  Mary  to  asso- 
ciate her  with  the  divine  paternity  of  the  father,  that 
she  might  conceive  a  son,  who,  at  the  same  time,  should 
be  his  eternal  and  only  begotten  son.  As  Jesus  Christ 
is  engendered  from  all  eternity  from  the  sole  substance 
of  the  Eternal  Father,  so  in  time  is  he  engendered  from 
the  sole  substance  of  his  virgin  mother,  the  wonderful 
offspring  of  two  mysterious  spiritual  generations,  the 
first  eternaLand  divine,  the  other  in  time  and  human. 
In  the  divine  the  Holy  Ghost'proceeds  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son  as  the  spiration  of  love ;  and  in  the  human 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  personal  love  of  the  Father  and 
Son,  consecrates  the  sanctuary,  in  which  the  son  is  to 
receive  a  neff  birth  from  a  virgin,  with  whom  the  Father 
shares  his  divine  paternity. 

All  divine  operations  ad  extra  are  common  to  the 
three  divine  persons,  yet  the  Scriptures  and  the  Creed 
teaeh  us  that  "Jesus  Christ  was  conceived  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary."'  This  mystery 
is  attributed  especially  to  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a  most 
wonderful  miracle  of  power  and  love.  He  did  not  gen- 
erate, but  created  the  humanity  of  Christ;  but  the  Vir- 
gin' Mary  generated  the  body  from  her  own  substance 
by  the  power  of  the  "Holy  Ghost,  and  giving  birth  to 
him,  who  was  never  man  a  moment  without  being  also 
God,  she  became  truly  mother  of  God,  and  could  truly 
call  Him  son,  whom  the  Eternal  Father  also  called  his 
only  begotten  son. 

Who  can  imagine  the  greatness  of  this  dignity,  the 
sublimity  of  this  association  of  Mary  with  the  three  di- 
vine persons  of  the  Godhead,  the  #highth  and  depth 
an-1  breadth  of  these  fundamental  mysteries  of  Christ- 
ianity 1 

The    Work  of  Redemption. —  The  Cross. 

The  knowledge  that  the  Son  of  God  has  become  man, 
induces  the  question,  why  did  he  become  man  ?  Cath- 
olic doctrine  answers  with  the  Creed :  ';  For  us  men, 
and  for  our  salvation  he  descended  from  heaven,"  and 


THE  JN  CARNATION.  41 

was  made  man.  Under  the  title  of  Saviour  of  man- 
kind, lie  is  known,  loved  and  adored;  hence  his  name 
is  Jesus.  "  She  shall  bring  forth  a  son  ;  .ind  thou 
shalt  call  his  name  Jesus.  For  he  shall  save  his  peo- 
ple from  their  sins."*  "For  God  indeed  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  to  himself."  f 

Whether  the  general  plan  of  divine  Providence  con- 
templated the  holy  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  as  the 
end  for  which*  God  created  the  world,  that  he  might 
communicate  himself,  and  bring  about  the  union  of  in- 
telligent; creatures  with  himself;  or  whether  the  ri, 
ous  demands  of  divine  justice  rendered  the.  incarnation 
a  necessity  for  «the  manifestation  of  infinite  mercy  to 
our  race,  "that  justice  and  peace  might  embrace,"  t  it 
is  distinctly  taught  as  a  tenet  of  Catholic  faith,  that 
the  Eternal  Son  of  God  btcame  man.  in  order  to  re- 
deem and  save  mankind.  To  suppose  that  God  could 
not  have  accorded  pardon  to  our  race  without  the  price 
paid  for  it  by  the  Redeemer,  had  he  willed  to  do  so, 
would  not  be  credible ;  but  to  receive  the  satisfaction 
which  his  supreme  justice  required,  at  the  same  time 
that  his  infinite  mercy  displayed  itself  in  forgiving,  the 
mysteries  of  the  incarnation  and  the  cross  became  ih- 
dispensible.  A  substituted  victim  of  infinite  merit  and 
value,  and  yet  a  victim  of  our  race,  and  representing 
our  race  was  needed,  to  the  end  that  justice  might  be 
duly  satisfied,  and  mercy  be  manifested. 

To  blot  out  our  sins,  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  was 
therefore  for  us  entirely  necessary.  By  his  death  on 
the  cross  he  redeemed  us,  and  merited  for  us  justifica- 
tion. "He  was  offered,  because  it  was  his  own  will," 
and  "  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all."  § 
died  for  the  salvation  of  all  men.  and  if  any  perish, 
it  will  not  be  because  ample  satisfaction  1ms  not  been 
made  for  them,  but  because  they  have  failed  to  secure 
an  application  to  themselves  of  the  merits  of  Christ. 
The  just  offered  himself  for  the  unjust,  he  offered  - 
self  freely,  of  his  own   will,  and   because  of  his  love, 

•Math    1  :  SI.    +?  Cor.,  v.  ]'.>.     +P*.  Si  .  il.    §Ieajti>,  liii. 


•12  THE    INCARNATION. 

and  lie  abundantly  merited  forgiveness  for  all,  and  by 
his  obedience  and  humiliations  m«ritcd,  for  himself 
man,  an  exaltation  moat  extraordinary,  and  a  name 
above  all  names.  "He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  pins; 
and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  those  of  the  whole 
wi  rid."  *     II'-  alone  bears  the  title  of  Mediator  :  " ; 

there  ia   one  God,  and    one   mediator  of  God  and  man, 

the  man  Chri  i,  who  gave  himself  o  redemption 

for  all." •!• 

He  eh.  the  altar  of  his  sacrifice,  that 

life  might   ai  i  whence  death  had  sprang,  and 

that  the  devil?  who  fioin  tin-  tree  hail  conquered,  Bhould 
in  th<  .He  chose  an  ignominious  and 

crael  death  on  the  cross,  in  order  to  heal  in  us  the  c 

•  oce  "f  I 

and  the    pride    of  life.       I  i  be  CI  Qcified  amid 

ahan  ny,  in  order 

us  the  deformity  and  atroc  n,  which 

demanded    Mich   an  exl  ■nt   and  • 

on. 
The  following  are  :   benefits  which  he  has 

merited  for  us  by  th  : 

1.     He  ha-  ii-  -in.',  i' 

•J.  ted  us  from   the  servitude   of  the 

devil,  and  rescued  us  from  the  powers  of  darkness  and 

the  jaws  of  hell. 
3«  lie  has  transferred  us  int..)  his  kingdom,  and  op< 

ed  for  us  the  gates  of  heaven,  which  sin  had  cl 

4.  lie  has  pre-  us  the   exemplar  of  all  the 

virtues,  the   practice  of  which    is  nccc 
ing  the  kingdom  of  b 

merited  for  us  all  the  graces,  which  ena 
hie  us    to    practice    virtues,  and  to   secure  eternal  I 
We  can   do   nothing  without  him,  and  his   blood  is  the 
fountain  from  which  all  graces  How. 

The  supereminent  science  of  salvation  is  the  knowl- 

Christ,  and  him  crucified;  "to  those  who 

h  a  foil-  are  sav«d,  the  power  of 

.  :  i    .*. 


THE   iNCARNAri'iN.  43 

God."*  But  this  ecience  is  hot  a  roero  speculative) 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ  crucified.  It  is  an  active  faith, 
which  labors  "to  make  up  what  is  wanting  in  the 
sion  of  Christ,"  f  which  is  the  application  of  his  merits. 
To  effect  the  application  of  his  merits  to  individuals, 
Jesus  Christ  established  his  Church,  instituted  his  sac- 
raments, gave  existence  to  his  perpetual  sacrifice,  com- 
toned  his  apostles  to  go  and  preach  his  gospel,  and 
the  kingdom  of  God  to  all  nations,  to  administer  his 
sacramerits,  and  to  set  up  his  cross  as  "a  standard  to 
the  peoples.":};  He  declared  to  all  that  it  is  ncce.-sary 
for  them,  "to  work  out  their  salvation,"  and  said  :  "he 
that  will  come  after  me  let  him  deny  himself,  take  up 
his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me. *'§  As  he  paid  the  pri< 
it  was  his  right  to  place  the  conditions  upon  which  he 
would  share  his  merits  and  his  glory  with  ethers. 
that  none  might  entertain  of  his  ability  to  ful- 

fil bis  promises,  in  addition  to  the  num 
his  life,  he  arose  triumphantly  from  among  the  dead, 
on  the  third  day,  as  he  had  foretold,  and.  for  forty 
days,  gave  numerous  proofs  of  the  reality  of  his  n 
rection,  and,  finally,  in  sight  of  a  multitude  <>f  wit- 
nesses, left  the  earth  and  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of 
his  Father. 


*i  Cor.  1:   17.     fCol.  1:  24.     *[saias  xlix  :  22. 

§   St   Luke  ix  :  23. 

||  "For  you  arc  bought  with  a  <;reat  pr:..-e  :'  1  Cor.  vi  :  20. 
"Christ  died  ior  us:  much  more  therefore,  being  now  justified  by 
his  blood,  sha  II  we  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him.  For  if, 
when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of 
Jiis  Son.  much  more  beim;  reconcile.!,  we  shall  be  saved  by  Ins 
life"  Rom.  v :  9,  10.  It  is  necessary  with  faith  to  live  tht 
Christ  to  obtain  salvation,  as  his  Apostle  declarer  :  ''That  he  left 
us  an  example  that  we  might  follow  his  steps."   1  Pet.  ii  :  21. 


4  t  OF    THE    nuLT    GHSOT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

OF  THE  HOLY  QH08T — HI  IS  A  TRUE  PERSON — HI?  DI- 
VINITY PROVED — HE  IS  TIAL  WITH  THE 
FATHER  AND  THE  SON — THE  HOL1  QHl  -' 1'  PROCEEDS 
PROM   Tin:    FATHER   AND    THE    BO» — HIS    OIFTfl    AND 

FRUITS. 

At  s  very  early  period  of  Christianity,  there  appear- 

loctrines  of  faith 
:  i  Trinity, 

the 
The  martyr,  [gnatius,  mentions  Be 
ral,  of  whom  some   denie  i  th< 

the  snme 
with  the  Father  and 

] 
about  the   Di  •  hich  he  denied, 

b  all  minds,  and  little  men- 
trred  in  the  'i  of 

the  Holy 
vindieated  and  d< 

Arias  and  his  It 

•■••  •  rs.  gain 

broached   a  the  Holy 

who;..  :  from  thi 

to  be  ire  of  the  Father  and  the  Son.      In 

- 
'e.      Th' 

it'u  "in  the  Ho- 
and   placed   the    three   divine  persons  on 
ad  glorifi 

Mi lonias  did  not  deny  the  personality  of  tl 

:.  but  other 
Nazianzen,  did  so.  pretending  that  he  was  a  i 

/  or  quality.     Again  some  of  them  con  .  him 

a  mere  •  •  different 


■i  "l 

ture  from  God,  and  of  inferior  dignity  to   the  Father 
and  Son.     A  council  of    '  ia  in  362,  over  which 

Athanasi  as  heretics  those 

who  should  assert  that  the  Holy  ■  a   creature. 

A  council  in  Iil'rieum,  held  i  Theodoiet  testi- 

fies, defined  the  divinity  of  the  II'  host- 

lv  afterwards  one,  held  at  Roi  >pe  Dam  i 

and  the 
same  substance  with  the  Father.  The  Sociniana  of 
more  modern  days  differ  from  most  of  the  ancient  op- 
ponents of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  admitted  Ids  personal- 
ity, which  they  deny.  The  Socinians  represent  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  hut  the  power  of  God,  a  mere  ener- 
gy or  quality,  as  did  some  of  the  ancient  heretics. 

It  is  of  faith  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  person  ;  the 
third  person  of  the  Blessed m  Trinity,  God  as  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Son,  God  with  the  Father  and  the  Son; 
that  with  them  He  is  co-equal,  and  consubstantial;  that 
these  three  persons  are  one  God,  as  St.  John  says  : 
"  The  Father,  the  Word,  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three 
are  one  ;"*  And  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  be  adored 
and  glorified  together  with  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

Proofs  that  the  Ilohf  Grhmt  is  a   T    •    Person,  not  a 

mere  Quality. 

That  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  person  is  proved  from  the 
Holy  Scriptures  first,  because  to  him  are  attributed  op- 
erations proper  to  persons.  The  Scriptures  declare 
that  he. teaches  :  M  lie  will  teach  you  all  things."  John 
xiv :  26.  Secondly,  lie  is  represented  as  a  witness  : 
"He  will  give  testimony  of  me."  John  xv:  26.  Third- 
ly, He  is  represented  as  searching  the  deep  things  of 
God:  "For  the  Spirit  seareheth  all  things,  yea  the 
deep    .  of   God."     I  Cor.  iirl'O,      Fourthly,  He 

appoints   to  the  ministry  of  the   church;  "  The  Holy 
Ghost  said  to  them :  separate  me  Saul   and   Barnabas, 

*  1st  Epis.  of  St.  John,  ch.  v:  7. 


4()  01     THi;    HOL*    CHosT. 

for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  taken  them."  Acts 
xiii:2.  Fifthly,  He  operates  according  to  his  own 
will,  and  bestows  gifts;  "  But  all  these  things  one  and 
the  same  Spirit  xrorketh,  dividing  to  every  one  accord- 
ing as  he  will."  1  Cor.  xii:  11.  Sixthly,  lie  is  rep- 
resented as  aiding  our  infirmities,  and  praying  for  us  : 
"  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity.  For 
we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought :  but 
the  Spirit  himself  asketh  for  us  with  unspeakable 
groaning.?. "  Rom.  viii:  2<;.  And  when  St.  Paul  ask- 
ecL&t  Ephesus.of  certain  disciples:  "Have  you  receiv- 
ed the  Holy  Ghost  since  you  believed?"*  They  said  : 
"We  have  not  so  much  as  heard  whether  there  be  a 
Holy  Ghost,"  it  is  evident  they  understood  a  person  to 
be  spoken  of,  and  not  a  mere  quality,  for  they  knew 
t hat  God  could  bestow  supernatural  gifts,  and  would 
not  have  said  :  "we  have  not  heard  whether  there  be  a 
Holy  Ghost,"  as  speaking  of  a  virtue  or  quality. 

Secondly.  The  same  is  proved  from  passages,  which 
show  that  He  proceeds  from  the  Father,  is  sent  by  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  and  is  another  person  than  the 
Son.  kll  will  ask  the  Father  and  He  shall  give  you 
another  Paraclete."  Johnxiv:  16.  Again:  ".Butwhen 
the  Paraclete  cometh,  whom  I  will  send  you  from  the 
Father,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  proceedeth  from  the 
Father,  He  shall  give  testimony  of  me."  John  xv:  2G. 
Again  :  "  It  is  expedient  to  yeu  that  I  go;  for  if  I  go 
not.  the  Paraclete  will  not  come  to  you:  But  if  1  go,  1 
will  send  him  to  you.  And  wdien  He  is  come,  He  will 
convince  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  justice,  and  of  judg- 
ment.' John  xvi:  7,  8.  These  all  clearly  indicate  a 
person. 

Thirdly.  We  read  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  assumed  a  visible  appearance,  as  of  that  of  a 
dove  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  tongues  of 
fire  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  And  we  do  not  read  of 
a  mere  quality  or  even  a  divine  attribute  assuming  a 
visible  form.     In  St.  Luke  iii:  22.  we  read:  "And  the 

*  Acta  x:  ■ 


OF   THE   HULV    GHOST.  47 

Holy  Ghost  descended  in  a  bodily  shape  as  a  dove  upon 
him."  And  in  Acts  ii:  3,  4,  "And  there  appeared  to 
them  parted  tongues  as  it  were  of  lire,  and  it  Bat  upon 
every  one  of  them  :  And  they  were  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  they  began  to  speak  with  divers  tongues, 
according  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them  to  speak." 
They  received  not  merely  gifts,  but  the  Holy  Ghost 
himself.  This  faith  is  also  clearly  shown  in  the  writings 
of  the  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church. 

Proofs  that  the  Holy   Ghost  is   God. 

In  the  holy  Scriptures,  He  is  called  God  and  Lord. 
Isaias  represents  that  he  "heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord," 
(Jehovah.)  Is.  ch.  vi:  v.  8,  and  St.  Paul  tells  us,  "Well 
did  the  Holy  Ghost  speak  to  our  fathers  by  Isaias  the 
prophet,"*  thus  showing  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the 
Lord  who  spoke  to  Isaias,  and  therefore  representing 
him  as  a  person  and  as  God.  David  also  writes  thus 
in  the  23rd  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  Kings  : 
"The  spirit  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  by  me.  and  his 
word  by  my  tongue.  The  God  of  Israel  said  1o  me,  the 
strong  one  of  Israel  spoke,  the  ruler  of  men,"'  and  St. 
Peter,  in  Acts  ch.  i :  16,  represents  that  it  was  "  the 
Holy  Ghost  who  spoke  befo're  by  the  mouth  of  David." 
Therefore  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  God  of  Israel,  the 
strong  one,  the  ruler  of  men.  In  the  Old  Testament, 
God,  Jehovah,  is  represented  as  speaking  by  the  pro- 
phets, and  the  New  Testament  declares  that  these  pro- 
phets were  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  For  proph- 
ecy came  not  by  the  will  of  man  at  any  time:  but  the 
holy  men  of  God  spoke  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost," 
writes  St.  Peter,  prince  of  the  Apostles.  2  JEpistle, 
v.  21.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  then  truly  God,  the  Lord. 
To  Ananias  St.  Peter  says:  "Why  hath  Satan  tempt- 
ed thy  heart,  that  tho^u  sh'ouldst  lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 
*  *  *  *  Thou  hast  not  lied  to  men,  but  to  God."f  To 
lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost  is  therefore  to  lie  to  God,  and 

*  Acts  sxx  iii  t  Ad    v     I. 


48  '    OF   THE   HOLY   QnOSl. 

the  Holy  Ghost  is  God.  St,  Paul  asks  the  Corinthians  t 
"Know  you  not  that  you  are  the  .temple  of  God,  and 
that  the  spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you'?"*  The  Holy 
Ghost  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian  is  God  dwelling  in 
his  temple.  And  again:  "Know  you  not  that  your 
members  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  in 
you,  whom  you  have  from  God,  and  you  are  not  your 
own?  For  you  are  bought  with  a  great  price.  Glorify 
and  bear  God  in  your  body."f  The  Apostle  then  calls 
the  body  of  the  Christian,  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  the  temple  of  God,  as  if  the  same  thing,  giving  it 
to  be  known  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  God.  The  Apos- 
tle also  declares  that  whatever  may  be  the  diversity  of 
graces,  or  of  ministry,  or  of  operations,  there  is  but 
the  same  spirit,  the  same  Lord,  the  same  God,  who 
"worketh  all  in  all.|  And  to  the  Holy  Spirit  in  various 
places  the  Scriptures  attribute  all  the  attributes  which 
pertain  to  God.  Hence,  Christians  have  at  all  times 
confessed  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  glorified 
Him  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  distinguishing  the 
three  divine  persons,  but  not  dividing  the  substance  or 
essence  in  God. 

The  Tfiree  Divine,  Persons  are  Distinct  as  Persons, 
but  One  in  Essence. 

It  is  a  doctrine  of  Faith  that  the  three  divine  per- 
sons are  distinct  from  each  other.  The  Father  is  not 
the  Son  nor  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  Son  is  not  the  Father 
nor  the  Holy  Ghost-,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  the  Father 
nor  the  Son.  Yet  these  three  are  not  distinct  as  to  the 
substance  nor  as"  to  the  absolute  attributes,  for  all  three 
have  the  same  substance  and  absolute  attributes — they 
are  consubstantial,  co-eternal,  and  co-equal  in  all  thij 
because  of  the  perfect  unity  of  the  divine  substance 
which  is  common  to  them,  and  entire  and  individual  in 
each  of  them.  Without  being*confounded,  they  are 
united  in  the  same  substance,  so  that  they  are  truly  in 

*  1  Cor.  iii:l€  \  4  Coj  20         kl  Ccr.  x 


OF   THE   HOLY   GHOST.  49 

each  .other.  "  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  is  in 
me,"  says  Jetus  Christ.  It  is  in  the  personality  only 
that  there  is  a  distinction.  The  relative  properties  of 
paternity,  filiation  and  spiration  constitute  the  only  dis- 
tinction or  difference  between  them.  Paternity  belongs 
only  to  the  Father,  filiation  only  to  the  Son,  and  spi- 
ration as  received,  or  termed  passive,  only  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  Father  is  the  principle  from  whom  the 
Son  from  all  eternity  is  begotten,  and  the  Father  with 
the  Son  is  the  principle  from  whom  the  Holy  Ghost 
proceeds.  It  is  a  doctrine  of  faith,  that  the  Son  is  be- 
gotten of  the  Father  only,  as  expressed  in  the  Creeds 
of  Nice  and  Constantinople.  It  is  a  doctrine  of  faith, 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  eternally  from  the  Fath- 
er and  the  Son,  as  from  one  principle,  and  one  only 
spiration.  Thus  have  the  Fathers  taught,  and  the 
Councils  defined  the  doctrine  as  to  the  mystery  of  the 
Trinity.  The  Scriptures  show  this  doctrine.  Attri- 
butes belonging  only  to  God  are  attributed  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  "  For  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  hath  filled  the 
whole  world."  Wisd.  i:  7.  "They  were  filled  wTith 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Acts  ii.  These  apply  to  Him  what 
cannot  be  said  of  any  one  less  than  God.  His  opera- 
tions can  only  result  from  the  attribute  of  Omnipotence; 
he  gives  the  word  of  wisdom,  the  word  of  knowledge, 
the  grace  of  healing,  the  working  of  miracles,  the 
power  of  prophecy,  the  discerning  of  spirits,  diverse 
kinds  of  tongues,  the  interpretation  of  speeches,  all 
"operations  which  the  same  spirit,  the  same  Lord,  the 
same  God  worketh."  1  Cor.  xii.  Omniscience  is  at- 
tributed to  him:  "But  to  us  God  hath  revealed  them, 
by  his  Spirit.  For  the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yia, 
the  deep  things  of  God."  1  Cor.  ch.  ii:  1.0.  Again: 
"When  He  shall  come  he  shall  teach  you  all  things." 
John  xvi:  13.  Supreme  majesty  and  dignity  must  bo 
reckoned  to  be  his,  from  this  declaration  of  the  Saviour 
in  Mark  iii :  28.  "  Amen  I  say  unto  you  that  all  sins 
shall  be  forgiven  unto  the  sons  of  men,  and  the  blas- 
phemies wherewith  they  shall  blaspheme :  But  he  that 
Bhall  Blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  shall  nsver 
3 


60  OF  TJIE   HOLY    GHOST) 

have  forgiveness,  but  shall  be  guilty  of  an  everlasting 
sin." 

Forgiveness  of  sin  is  an  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  who  cap  forgive  sins  against  God  except  God  him- 
self, either  directly  or  indirectly  ?  "  Receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are  for- 
given." John  xx.  "You  are  washed,  you  are  sanc- 
tified, you  are  justified  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  in  the  Spirit  of  our  God."  1  Cor.  vi. 
"  Unless  a  man  is  born  again  of  water  and  the  .Holy 
Ghost,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 
John  iii':  5. 

He  anoints,  signs,  and  adopts  the  children  of  God  : 
"in  whom  also  believing  you  were  signed  with  the  Ho- 
ly Spirit  of  promise  ;  who  is  the  pledge  of  our  inherit- 
ance." Ephes.  i:  18,14.  He  diffuses  charity:  "Be- 
cause the  charity  of  God  is  poured  forth  in  our  hearts, 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  given  to  us."  Rom.  v  :  5. 
!He  attends  to  the  government  of  the  church  :  "  Sepa- 
rate me  Saul  and  Barnabas,  for  the  work  whereunto  I 
have  taken  them."  Acts  iii:  2.  Take  heed  to  your- 
selves, and  to  the  whole  flock,  wherein  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  placed  you  bishops  to  rule  the  church  of  God." 
Acts  xx  :  28.  Here  Christ  is  referred  to  as  being 
God,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  declared  to  select  and  ap- 
point bishops  to  rule  the  church  of  God,  Numerous 
testimonies  from  tradition  and  the  Fathers  might  be 
adduced  to  show  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  God,  consub- 
stantial  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  but  the  -Scrip- 
tures are  clear  enough  on  this  doctrine  to  dispense  me 
from  citing  other  testimonies. 

The  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

That  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  as  from  one  principle,  is  also  proved  from  the 
Scriptures.  Procession  may  be  two  fold ;  immanent, 
so  called  because  its  term  remains  within  its  principle; 
and  transient,  because  its  term  is  beyond  or  outside  of 
its  principle.     The  thouglit  of  the  mind  remaining  in 


OV    TH£    llul.Y    »Huir.  51 

it  is  an  example  of  immanent  procession.  Procession 
may  be  perfect  and  imperfect.  The  perfect  is  when  the 
term  is  subsistent,  and  of  the  same  essence  and  nature 
with  its  principle.     The  in  ,  is  when  the  term  is 

not  subsistent,  as  thought  in  the  mind,  or  when  it  is  not 
of  the  same  essence  with  its  %  prinpiple,  as  the  Son 
among  things  created.  To  deny  processions  in  God, 
one  must  deny  the  Trinity  altogether,  but  to  determine 
the  mode  in  which  they  exist  in  God  is  not  easy.  The 
Scriptures  prov$  that  there  are  in  God  two  processions. 
Jesus  Christ  says  of  himself:  "For  from  God  I  pro- 
ceed."  John  viii :  42.  "I  came  forth  from  the  Fath- 
er and  came  into  the  world."  John  xvi .  28.  Of  the 
Holy  Ghost  also  he  Bays :  "  When  the  Paraclete  com- 
eth — who  proceedeth  from  the  Father."  John  xv.  2(3,  • 
The  council  of  Nice  declares  belief  "  in  the  only  be- 
gotten Son  of  God,  born  of  the  Father,  and  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father."  There  must 
be  among  the  three  persons  of  the.  Holy  Trinity  an  or- 
der of  subsisting  and  operating,  and  this  order  is  con- 
stantly indicated  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  name 
the  Father  in  the  first  place,  then  the  Son,  and  tho 
Holy  Ghost  after  the  Father  and  the  Son,  as  in  the  for- 
mula of  Baptism.  Math,  xxviii,  and  in  1  John  v.  -This 
order  is  constantly  observed  in  thedoxologies  and  sym- 
bols of  the  church.  This  order  can  have  its  reason 
only  in  the  processions,  because  it  cannot  have  it  in  the 
nature,  essence,  or  substance,  which  is  common  and  the 
eame  in  the  three  divine  persons.  What  therefore 
makes  one  to  be  distinct  from  the  other  is  the  relative 
opposition  arising  from  the  two  processions,  the  first  by 
gene.ation;  and  the  second-by  simple  procession,  called 
also,  in  the  principle,  oiration,  and  in  the  term 

passive  Bpiration.  Tho  generation  of  the  Son  is  admit- 
ted by  all  who  receive  the  doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Tri- 
nity. There  i-  concerning  the  procession  of 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Catholic  doctrine  teaching  that  ho 
proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  while  the  schis- 
matical  Greek  church  and  others  holding  with  it  in 
faith,  profess  that  hrt  proreeds  from  the  Father  only. 


5a  Of    THE   HOLY  GHOST. 

There  are  different  texts  of  the, Scriptures,  ■which  prove 
the  Catholic  doctrine,  and  these  are  of  three  kinds. 

Texts  of  the  first  kind  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
said  to  receive  from  the  Son.  When  the  Son  by  that 
itself  which  he  receives  from  the  Father  proceeds  from 
Him,  it  is  certainly  understood  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
proceeds  from  the  Son  when  he  receives  from  him  ;  for 
one  person  in  God  cannot  in  any  way  receive  from 
another .  but  by  proceeding  from  Him.  Of  the  Holy 
Ghost  it  is  said  :  "  But  when  He,  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
is  come,  He  will  teach  you  all  truth.  For  He  shall  not 
speak  of  himself:  but  what  things  soever  He  shall 
hear,  He  shall  speak."  John  xvi :  13.  Again  :  "  He 
shall  glorify  me :  because  He  shall  receive  of  mine,  and 
shall  show  it  to  you."  lb.  v:  14.  And  why  he  receives 
from  Christ  is  declared:  "All  things  whatsoever  the 
Father  hath,  are  mine ;  therefore  I  said,  He  shall  re- 
ceive of  mine,  and  shew  it  to  you."  lb.  15.  This 
shews  clearly  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Father  which 
the  Son  has  not,  except  the  relative  opposition  from  the 
personality  ;  but  the  active  spiration,  which  is  in  the 
Father,  has  no  relative  opposition  with  the  Son,  and 
must  be  common  to  the  Father  aiid  the  Son  as  the 
principle  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  there- 
fore proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

Secondly.  Texts  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  said  td 
be  sent  by  the  Son.  It  is  evident  that  the  mission  of 
one  person  by  the  other  supposes  the  procession  of  the 
one  from  the  other.  The  Father  is  sent  by  no  one  ;  the 
Son  is  sent  only  by  the  Father.  Now  the  Scripture 
teaches  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  sent  by  the  Son:  "But 
when  the  Paraclete  cometh — whom  I  will  send  you  from 
the  Father-"  John  xv:  26.  Again:  "If  I  go  not, 
the  Paraclete  will  not  come  to  you  ;  but  if  I  go,  I  will 
send  Him  to  you.".  John  xvi :  7.  When  in  the  Scrip- 
ture, it  is  said  Jesus  Christ  was  sent  by  the  Spirit  of 
£rod,  this  is  to  be  understood  of  him  as  man,  since  as 
God  his  mission  was  only  from  the  Father. 

Thirdly.  There  are  passages  or  texts  which  indicate 
the  same  truth,  by  saying  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the 


l>i    I  lib   HOLY   GriOSt.  5o 

Spirit  of  the  Son :  "  And  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  suffered 
them  not."  Acts  xvi:  7.  "Now  if  any  man  have 
not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  Rom.  viii: 
!».  "  God  hath  sent  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  into  your 
hearts  crying:  Abba,  Father."  Gal.  iv:  6.  And  in 
John  xx.  Jesus  breathed  upon  his  Apostles,  saying: 
"  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,"  "  What,"  asks  St.  Au- 
gustine, "  What  other  thing  did  that  breathing  signify, 
unless  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  also  from  Him- 
self?" Fathers  and  councils  teach  this  doctrine,  yet 
its  obstinate  denial  is  one  of  the  two  chief  obstacles  to 
a  return  of  the  Greek  church  to  Catholic  unity.  With- 
out admitting  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the 
Son  in  conjunction  with  the  Father,  He  could  not  be 
distinguished  from  the  Son,  as  the  relative  opposition 
is  what  makes  the  distinction  of  the  Divine  persons 
from  each  other. 

In  the  regeneration  of  men  by  baptism  they  are  bap- 
tized in  one  name,  but  belonging  to  three  divine  per- 
sons :  "Baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  Third 
person  is  therefore  proved  to  be  God  by  his  very  name. 
For  only  God  is  "  The  Holy  Spirit,"  by  excellence,  be- 
ing a  pure  Spirit,  infinitely  Holy,  the  source  of  holi- 
ness, and  the  creator  of  spirits.  It  is  because  each  of 
the  other  divine  persons  has  his  appropriate  designa- 
tion that  the  term  Holy  Spirit  is  used  to  desig- 
nate the  third  person,  of  the  Holy  Trinity<and  espe- 
cially, because  it  is  his  office  to  bestow  sanctity  on  the 
souls  who  were  purchased  by  the  blood  of  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God. 

Of  the  Gifts  and  Fruits  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  have  nothing  in  natural  and  sensible  things  to 
furnish  us  a  comparison,  by  which  we  can  be  able  to 
comprehend  how  it  is  that  the  Holy  Ghost  "is  given  to 
us,"  or  "  dwells  in  us,"  as  in  His  temple  ;  but  we  are 
rold  by  theologians  that  there  are  certain  supernatural 
qualities,  called  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Gho3t,  which  God 


54  OF  THE   HOLY   GHOST. 

gives,  by  infusion,  to  the  Christian  soul  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  confirmation,  to  render  it  obedient  to  the 
promptings  and  inspirations  of  grace,  and  to  strength- 
en it  for  the  spiritual  combat.  These  are  indicated  in 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  Isaias,  verse  2d,  where,  refer- 
ring to  Jesus  Christ,  the  prophet  seems  in  vision  to  be- 
hold wh.4fc  others  afterwards  really  witnessed,  when,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  form  of  a- 
dove,.x*ested  on  the  head  of  the  S.on  of  God  :  ''And  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  Him  :  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  and  understandings  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
fortitude,  the  spirit  of  knowledge,  and  of  godliness,  and 
He  shall  be  fiLled  with  the  Spirit  of  the  fear  of  the 
Lord."  These,  though  common  operations  of  the  three 
divine  persons,  are  called  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
because  they  proceed  from  the  infinite  love  of  God,  and 
therefore  are  attributed  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
twelve  fruits  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  summed  up  in  this 
passage  of  St.  Paul :  "  But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is, 
charity,  joy,  peace,  patience^  benignity,  goodness,  longa- 
nimity, mildness,  faith,  modesty,  continency,  chastity." 
Gal.  v:  22,  23.  They  are  termed  fruits,  because  they 
are  effects  and  works  which  the  Holy  Ghost  produces 
in  us  by  means  of  the  virtues,  and  especially  by  charity, 
which  is  the  first  mentioned  by  the  Apostle,  and  which 
is  as  the  mother  and  nurse  of  the  rest.  As  the  ulti- 
mate effort  of  the  tree  is  the  maturity  of  its  fruits,  which 
are  the  glory  and  crown  thereof,  so  are  the  Christian 
virtues,  operatedby  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  ultimate  result 
and  crowning  glory  of  the  supernatural  power  of  man 
acting  for  his  final  end :  "Fear  God  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments: for  this  is  all  man."*  As  the  tree  is 
known  by  its  fruits,  so  by  these  fruits,  is  a  virtuous 
and  good  man  known,  as,  on  the  contrary,  a  vicious 
man  is  known  by  the  works  of  the  senses  and  the  flesh. 
"  By  their  fruits  shall  ye.know  them,"  says  the  Saviour 
of  men. 

When  we  consider  that  the  Holy  Ghost  not  only  pre- 
_  .  R ^ . 

*  Ecclesiasies  xii  :  13. 


IUK     CHURCH.  03 

sides  over  the  church,  enlightens  and  directs  her,  and 
gives  her  fecundity  for  bringing  forth  the  children  of 
God  ;  that  He  illustrated  her  or.igin  by  the  promise  and 
expectation  of  prophecy  and  the  splendour  of  miracles, 
and  continues  to  aid  her  always  to  uphold  amid  the 
world  the  light  of  divine  revelation,  the  truth  which 
only  can  make  men  free  for  time  and  eternity ;  but  also 
that  it  is  He,  who  enkindles  in  the  hearts  of  individu- 
als the  fire  of  charity  to  God  and  the  neighbour,  who 
enriches  them  with  gifts,  and  enables  them  to  lift  up 
their  aspirations  to  heavenly  delights  and  rewards,  to 
produce  supernatural  works  and  virtues,  to  bear  the 
cross,  and  resist  the  assaults  of  the  devil,  who,  in  a 
word  sanctifies  and  justifips  the  souls. whom  Christie- 
deemed,  we  .should  be  filled  with  .  love,  and  gratitude, 
and  resolve  never  by  our  conduct  "  to  grieve  the  Holy 
Spirit."     Eph.  iv:  30. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. — ITS  MARKS,  UNITY,  SANC- 
TITY, CATHOLICITY  AND  APOSTOLICITY. — THESE  MARKS 
BELONG  ONLY  TO  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Jesus  Christ  died  for  all,  an  1  desired  to  provide  sal- 
vation for  all,  by  giving  them  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  cleansing  them  from  their  sins.  He  wished 
to  reader  them  holy  here  in  this  world,  and  to  elevate 
them  to  glory  and  happiness  in  the  next.  For  most 
of  mankind  this  work  was  yet  to  be  done  when  he  de- 
parted from  the  earth,  and  visibly  ascended  to  take 
possession  of  his  kingdom.  But  this  work  is  super- 
natural and  can  only  be  accomplished  by  himself.  He, 
therefore,  in  some  effectual,  although  invisible  manner, 
will  prolong  his  presence  on  earth,  and  extend  his  im- 
fluence  to  every  part  of  it,  by  again,  if  we  can  use  the 
term,  incarnating  himself  in  a^reat  moral  organism,  a 
vast  society  or  corporation,  which  is  to  be  known  as  his 


S6  THE    CHURCH. 

church.  "God  hath  placed  under  him  the  whole  church, 
■which  is  his  body."*  The  church  is  then  one  with 
Christ.  "Christ  is  the  saviour  of  his  body,"!  which 
is  his  church.  The  church  is  Jesus  Christ  continuing 
the  work  of  the  salvation  of  men,  by  teaching  his  doc- 
trines and  applying  to  souls  the  aids  and  graces  which 
he  has  provided  in  his  sacraments.  As  Jesus  Christ 
lived  and  taught  the  truths  of  his  religion,  so  is  his 
church  his  religion  living  and  acting  as  well  as  teach- 
ing ;  the  visible  embodiment  of  Christianity.  We  speak 
particularly  of  his  church  on  earth,  established  by  him 
to  aid  him  in  his  work  of  restorer  and  saviour  of  men, 
commissioned  to  teach  men  to  know  and  observe  his. 
doctrines  and  commandments,  and  to  minister  and  dis- 
pense his  mysteries  and  graces. 

This  terrestrial  church,  or  association,  is  the  society 
which  Jesus  Christ  founded  on  earth,  and  placed  under 
a  ministry  by  him  chosen,  and  to  which  he  promised 
that  it  should  be  directed  and  guided  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  while  fulfilling  its  commission  to  extend  to  all 
parts  of  the  earth  and  to  all  generations  of  men,  the 
influences,  the  graces,  the  truths  of  his  religion,  for 
reconciling  men  with  God  and  conducting  them  in  the 
way  of  truth,  holiness,  and  salvation.  After  .men  die 
as  members  of  this  society  they  still  belong  to  Christy 
if  saved,  and  are  still  members  of  his  body ;  they  be- 
long to  the  church,  and  rank  with  those  who  are  to  be 
further  purified  in  the  next  world,  or  with  those  tri- 
umphant in  heaven,  but  they  no  longer  are  of  his  so- 
ciety or  church  on  earth.  For  the  departed,  either  the 
work  has  already  been  accomplished,  or  it  is  forever 
more  impossible.  They  are  either  with  the  saints  in 
glory,  stopped  for  a  time  on  the  way  to  be  further 
cleansed,  or  they  are  lost  forever.  But  men  on  earth, 
if  members  of  Christ,  must  be  found  "in  his  body," 
which  is  his  church,  and  if  not  in  this  society  believing 
and  acting  with  it,  they  can  neither  certainly  know  the 
truths  which  he  has  revealed,  nor  profit  by  tl^e  graces 

*Epkes.  1  :  22,  23.     fEplie^  v:  23. 


THE    CHURCH.  *  f>7 

which  Jie  dispenses.  The  church  is  the  continuator  of 
his  work  as  teacher  and  saviour ;  she  is  his  voice,  his 
organ,  his  representative ;  and  as  no  one  can  come  to 
the  Father  except  through  Christ,  so  no  one  can  come 
to  Christ  except  through  his  church. 

As  we  confess  that  God  made  himself  visible  in  Christ 
in  the  incarnation,  so  we  believe  that  Christ  manifests 
himself  to  the  world  in  his  visible  church,  which  the 
*  apostle  calls  "  the  church  of  God,'"*  because  Christ  is 
God.  For  the  sake  of  men,  God  became  visible  and 
made  himself  man;  and  to  save  men,  He  clothed  super- 
natural truths  and  mysteries  with  languange,  that  they 
might  be  known  to  men  ;  for  their  sake,  he  appointed 
visible  men  to  preach  these  truths  and  mysteries;  to 
suit  men  and  profit  them,  he  placed  his  graces  in  sensi- 
ble ceremonies  and  rites,  and  commanded  visible  men  to 
administer  them,  and  said  :  "  Upon,"  the  chief  or  leader 
of  these,  whom  he  termed,  "  this  rock,  I  will  build  my 
church."f  It  shall  be  "  one  fold  under  one  shepherd," 
where  the  mere  unity  of  the  members  shall  convince 
the  world,  that  I  have  been  sent  by  my  Father.  J  The 
church  of  Christ  is,  therefore,  a  visible  society.  How 
shall  it  be  known  and  distinguished  from  all  other  so- 
cieties ?  The  Catholic  doctrine  answers  from  the  creed: 
u  I  believe  one  JTol//,  Catholic  and  Apostolical  Church." 
These  four  marks,  when  found  together,  manifest  the 
church  which  all  ages  have  recognized  and  professed  to 
be  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  cannot  be  found 
together  in  any  society,  which  is  not  the  church  of 
Christ.  They  are  characteristics  which  grow  up  from 
that  which  they  indicate,  and  they  cannot  be  separated 
from  the  church  which  Jesus  Christ  founded  for  the 
benefit  of  "  all  nations,  promising  to  be  with  it  and  to 
preserve  it  to  the  end  of  the  world, "§  against  "the  gates 
of  hell,"  or  the  efforts  of  its  enemies  to  destroy  it. 

Unity  of  the  Church,  the  first  3Iark. 
It  is  certain  that  Jesus  Christ  speaks  of  his  church, 
•l  'tun  iii:  15.  fMath.xvi:  is.  {Johnxvii:  21.    §Math.xxviii 


OS  .  THE    CHll'.Ui. 

as  one.  "  On  this  rock  I  will  found  my. church,"*  not 
many  churches.  There  can,  consequently,  be  only  one 
society,  which  is  his  organ  and  represents  him  :  "  One 
body  and  one  spirit,"  as  "there  is  but  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  and  one  baptism — there  is  bat  one  God,  the 
Father  of  us  all."f  The  unity  of  the  church  is  essen- 
tial to  its  nature  and  to  its  end.  The  church  is  the 
Christian  religion  embodied,  and  in  action  under  an 
exterior,  visible  form.  The  Christian  religion  is  one, 
teaches  to  mankind  one  faith,  aggregates  men  together 
under  Christ,  and  makes  them  members  of  one  house- 
hold, termed  by  the  apostle  u  the  house  of  God."  If 
a  person  is  not  a  member  of  this  one  society,  he  is  no* 
in  union  with  Christ,  the  head,  because  the  head  pre*, 
sides  only  over  the  members  of  the  body.  The  doc- 
trines, the  spirit,  the  virtues  of  Jesus  Christ  are  with 
his  church,  and  cannot  be  claimed  and  dispensed  by 
mere  human  societies  and  organizations.  Hence,  all 
Christendom,  except  such  as  from  interest  or  passion,, 
were  found  separated  from  the  society  which  Christ 
fcunded,  has  subscribed  to  the  declaration  of  St. 
Cyprian:  "He  who  leaves .  the  church  will  not  obtain 
the  recompense  of  Christ.  He  is  a  stranger,  a  profane 
person,  an  enemy.  No  one  can  have  God  for  his 
Father  who  has  not  the  church  for  his  mother.^"  Only 
one  society  has  inherited  the  promises,  the  graces,  and 
the  merits  of  Christ.  That  society,  which  was  in  em- 
bryo 'under  •  the  patriarchs,  and  shown  to  the  world 
amid  types  and  figures  under  the  Jewish  dispensation, 
and,  in  fulfilment  of  promises  and  prophecies,  was  " pur- 
chased by  the  blood  of  Christ"  on  calvary,  and  being 
orgafiized  under  the  visible  headship  of  St.  Peter,  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Ghost  oil  the  day  of  Pentecost,  in  or- 
der to  become  as  "a  city  upon  the  mountain,"  for  the 
salvation  of  ail  the  nations  of  the  earth,  is  the  only 
society  that  can  truly  claim  to  be  the  church  of  Christ. 
It  is  a  doctrine  of  faith,  that  there  is  only  one  church 

♦Math.,  xvi:  18.      fEph.  iv :  b,  6.  "  *• 

jCyprian  tie  Unitate  Ecclesise. 


\ 


THE   ClfURCH.  '  59 

of  Christ.  The  church  is  one  only,  or  else  there  is  no 
church  of  Christ,  says  St.  Augustine — "  Aut  una,  aut 
nulla." 

Sanctity,  the  Second  Mark  of  the  Church. 

Soilness  or  sanctity  is  a  mark  of  the  church.  But 
we  must  remember  thai  Christ  did  not  give  it  to  be  un- 
derstood, that  all  the  members  of  his  church  would  be 
actually  holy.  On  the  contrary,  he  compared  his 
church  to  a  net  let  down  into  the  sea,  and  "  taking  fish 
of  all  kinds,"*  good  and  bad,  and  again  to  a  fiekVupon 
which,  amid  the  good  grain,  the  enemy  had  oversowed 
cockle  or  tare,  and  where  both  should  be  found  growing 
together  till  the  harvest,  or  "  the  end  of  the  world."f 
Sinuers,  and  even  public  sinners,  will  then  be  found  in 
the  church.  Nevertheless,  sanctity  is  a  mark  of  the 
church  derived  from  its  essential  nature,  because  the 
church  is  holy  in  its  founder,  Jesus  Christ;  holy  in  the 
end  for  which  it  was  instituted,  the  regeneration  and 
sanotifieation  of  men  ;  holy  in  its  doctrines,  the  reveal- 
ed truths  of  God ;  holy  in  its  means,  divine  grace  dis- 
pensed in  answer  to  prayer,  and  in  the  use  of  the 
sacraments ;  holy  in  its  spirit,  the  spirit  of  God,  the 
Holy  Ghost,  sent  to  the  church  to  be  its  comforter,  its 
counsellor,  its  guide,  and  to  abide,  with  it  forever. 
Hence  the  church  is  different  from  a  mere  human  so- 
ciety, and  is  emphatically  a  holy  society,  for  it  is  "the 
spouse  of  Christ  glorious,  and  without  spot  or  blem- 
ish,' %  the.  rib  formed  from  his  own  side,  and  endowed 
with  the  influence  to  sanctify  his  children,  having  with 
her  the  means  of  giving  holiness  to  all  who  desire  it 
and  seek  for  it,  and  who  do  not,  by  their  want  of  dis- 
positions, their  disobedience,  and  their  sins,  prevent  her 
fulfilling  the  mission  given  to  her  by  her  divine  founder. 
Her  members  an-  all  "cleansed  by  the  laver  of  water 
in  the  Word  of  life,  '§  and  by  baptism  are  regenerated 
and  made  holy,     ii*  they  keep  this  sanctifying  grace 


■  Math,  xiii :  47-49.     fMath.  xui  ;  24  -30.     JEplies.  v  :  27. 
SEpti.  v:  '..'6. 


60  "  '  THE   CMURCH. 

and  preserve  holiness,  they  deserve  the  name  of  saints. 
And  the  church  has  always  beheld  numbers  of  her 
children,  in  all  parts  of  her  vast  domain,  though  their 
lives  were  not  illustrated  by  miracles,  yet  giving  to 
their  fellow  men  assurances  of  their  holiness  by  their 
irreproachable  and  exemplary  lives,  and  their  endeavor 
to  imitate  the  model  of  the  christian,  the  saint  of  saints. 
So  also  can  the  church  ever  confidently  refer  to  her 
numerous  confessors,  virgins,  martyrs,  and  saints  of 
both  sexes  and  of  every  rank  and  condition  of  life, 
whom  she  has  taught  and  perfected  in  holiness.  She 
cannot  keep  men  from  abusing  their  free  will,  and 
trampling  on  the  graces  of  God  by  transgressing  his 
commandments,  but  she  continues  to  reprove  their 
wickedness,  holds  up  to  them  the  mirror  of  God's  law, 
his  promises  cf  recompense  and  threats  of  punishment, 
and  succeeds  daily  to  convert  sinners  to  repentance, 
and  to  wash  them  once  more  in  the  bitter,  and  salutary 
waters  of  penance.  Being  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the 
organ  and  instrument  of  his  action  on  mankind,  all  the 
sanctity,  to' be  found  or  tint  is  possible  among  men,  is 
her  sanctity,  and  this  shows  that  she  is  the  church  of 
Christ. 

Catholicity  the  Third  Mark  of  the  Church. 

Since  Jesus  Christ  died  for  all  men,  and  established 
his  church  to  apply  the  merits  of  his  death  to  all  men 
of  all  nations,  it  is  clear  that  his  church  must  essenti- 
ally be  Catholic,  or  universal.  Catholicity  is  the  un- 
limited extension  of  the  one  society  of  Christ  to  all 
parts  #f  the  world,  through  all  suceeeding  time  from 
its  origin  until  the  end.  The  church  is  established  to> 
be  the  id  other,  guide,  teacher,  and  sanctifier  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  The  Christian  is  the  Catholic  or 
universal  religion,  and  the  church  is  the  Christian  reli- 
gion living  and  acting  for  accomplishing  the  work  of 
redemption  by  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Sa- 
viour and  mediator  of  all  men,  and  "  the  church  is  his 
body,"  and  therefore  a  universal  society,  a  Catholic  so- 


' 


THE    CHURCH.  61 

ciety,  and  this  society  must  hold  in  the  embrace  of  its 
unity  all  whom  Christ  recognizes  as  his  members. 
aThe  church  is  one,"  says  St.  Cyprian,  "though  ex- 
tended far  and  wide,  and  is  further  multiple.-!  by  the 
increase  of  her  fruitfulness.  As  the  sun  has  many  rays, 
yet  one  light,  and  the  tree  many  boughs,  yet  its 
strength  is  one,  resting  on  the  firmly  clinging  root;  and 
as,  when  many  streams  How  down  from  one  fountain 
head,  though  a  multiplicity  of  waters  seemed  to  be  dif- 
fused from  the  bountifulness  of  the  overflowing  abund- 
ance, yet  is  unity  preserved  in  the  common  source. 
Tart  a  ray  of  the  sun  from  its  orb,  this  division  of  light 
the  unity  allows  not ;  break  a  branch  from  the  tree, 
once  broken  it  can  bud  no  more  :  cut  the  stream  from 
its  source,  the  remnant  dries  up.  Thus  the  church, 
flooded  with  the  light  of  the  Lord,  puts  forth  her  rays 
through  the  whole  world ;  yet  the  light  is  one,  which 
is  spread  over  every  place,  while  its  unity  of  body  is 
preserved.  In  the  luxuriance  of  her  plenty,  she 
stretches  her  branches  over  the  universal  earth,  and 
spreads  out  far  and  wide  her  bountiful  and  onward 
streams.  Yet  is  there  one  head  and  one  source,  and 
one  mother  abundant  in  the  results  of  her  fruitfulness. 
It  is  of  her  that  we  are  born  ;  with  her  milk,  we  are 
nourished ;  her  breath  is  our  life.  The  spouse  of 
Christ  cannot  become  adulterate,  she  is  undefiled  and 
chaste.  She  owns  but  one  home  m  with  spotless  purity 
she  guards  the  sanctity  Of  one  chamber.  She  keeps  us 
for  God  ;  she  appoints  unto  a  kingdom  the  sons  she  has 
borne."*  This.bcautiful  passage  shows  the  true  mean- 
ing of  Catholicity  as  a  mark  of  the  church.  The  unity 
of  the  church  expanded  throughout  the  universal  world, 
and  forbidding  the  existence  of  sepamted  and  indepen- 
dent societies,  which  are  compared  to  "the  adult efss," 
because  the  spouse  of  Christ,  or  his  church,  "  guards 
the  §anctity  of  one  chamber."  As  the  church  is  estab- 
lished for  all  nations  it  must  necessarily  be  a  Catholic  or 
universal  society ;  but  as  God  will  not  force  individuals  or 

*  Cyp   ds  Unitais  Evd- 


62  IKE  CHURCH. 

nations  to  receive  his  religion,  but  desires  them  to  em- 
brace it  with  faith,  voluntary  and  meritorious,  the  cath- 
olicity of  his  church  must,  in  point  of  fact,  be  a  moral 
and  not  a  physical  universality,  since  numbers  of  peo- 
ple, and  even  at  times  nations,  may,  in  pride  and  pas- 
sion, exercise  their  liberty,  and  separate  themselves 
from  the  church.  But  its  catholicity  of  fact  is  its  dif- 
fusion in  greater  or  less  degree,  among  all  the  nations 
and  in  nearly  all  the  countries  of  the  earth. 

Its  perpetuity,  or  extension  through  time,  is  also 
clearly  promised*  by  Jesus  Christ — "  The  gates  of  Hell 
shall  never  prevail  against  it."  "  I  am  with  you  all 
days  till  the  consummation  of  the  world."*  "  I  will 
pray  my  Father,  and  he  will  send  you  another  comfor- 
ter, who  will  remain  with  you  FORjBVER."f  Time  can 
never  destroy  the  church  which  is  intended  to  be  the 
ark  of  safety  to  all  nations.  It  is,  as  some  one  has 
well  remarked,  "the  vessel  zvhich  fears  no  tempests." 

Apostolicitif,  the  Fourth  Mark  of 'the  Church. 

Christ  established  his  church  by  means  of  men  whom 
he  selected,  instructed,  ordained  and  commissioned, 
and  whom  he  termed  his  apostles  or  envoys.  "As  my 
Father  hath  sent  me,  I  also' send  you."|  Whatever 
the  Apostles  of  Christ  believed  and  taught,  that  the 
church  of  Christ  believes  and  teaches,  and  this  is  apos- 
tolicity  of  doctrine.  But  the  Apostles  had  a  mission 
from  Christ ;  and  they  in  time  entrusted  the  same  mis- 
sion to  others ;  and  thus  the  church  of  Christ  always 
had  an  apostolic  succession  and  mission.  .Therefore,  as 
said  by  St.  Paul,  the  church  is  "built  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Apostles  and  the  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  be- 
ing himself  the  chief  corner  stone."  §  The  church 
then  issues  from  Christ  through  the  Apostles,  and  holds 
its  ministry,  its  docrines,  its  means  of  sanctifying  men, 
from  succeeding  to  the  Apostles  of  Christ.  No  one  has 
a  right  to  preach  who  has  not  been  ordained  and  sent, 

•     *  Math,  xxv iii.     fJotfti  xiv :  16.     (John*xx:  21.     gEphes.  ii :  90., 


THE    CHDRCH.  68 

and  no  one  has  a  right  to  preach  another  gospel  than 
that  given  by  Christ  to  his  Apostles,  and  faithfully  com- 
mitted by  them  to  their  successors,  to  be,  in  turn,  en- 
trusted " to  other  faithful  men."*  This  mark  of  the 
church  is  made  up  of  two  elements,  apostolicity  of 
ministry,  and    apostolicity  trine.      The    bis! 

of  the  church  are,  successors  of  the  Apostles  in  the 
■work  of  the  ministry,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  church 
art  apostolical  in  their  origin,  and  handed  down  pure 
and  unchanged.  Apostolical  succession  in  the  ministry 
is  a  pledge  and  sign  of  a  faithful  tradition  of  the  doc- 
trines, given  to  the  Apostles  by  Jesus  Christ  to  be 
taught  to  all  nations  till  the  end  of  the  .world.  \  Either 
the  church  of  Jesus  OhriBt  must,  he  interrupted. and  fail, 
or  it  must  he  perpetuated  by  succession.  If  it  fail  not, 
but  continue,  it  must  be  always  able  to  show,  that  its 
ministry,  for  Christ,  has  its  undisputed  succession  from 
the  Apostles,  who  received  it  from  Chri§t.  And  thus. 
it  must  cease  to  exist,  or  continue  to  have  the  mark  of 
Apostolicity.  But,  having  the  apostolical  succession  in 
the  ministry,  it  must  also  possess  it  in  its  doctrines,  for 
the  ministry  was  instituted  for  the  preaching-  of  the 
doctrines  of  Christ,  and  for  applying'  his  merits  and 
means  of  sanctification  to  the  souls  of  men.  Hence 
apostolicity  is  an. essential  mark  of  the  church  of 
Christ. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  alone  possesses  the  whole 
of  these  Four  Marks  together. 

No  other  society  pretends  to  possess  these  marks. 
Because  they  do  not  possess  them,  they  maintain  that 
they  are  not  necessary.  But  the  church  of  Christ  must 
be  clearly  characterised  and  indicated  to  men  by  notes 
and  features,  which  distinguish  it  from  every  thing  else. 
Other  societies,  calling  themselves  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  have  no  distinguishing  and  essential  marks  to 
make  them  known   to  the  world.     They  all  claim  the 

*  2  Tim.  ii  :  2.         t  Mn:h.  XXviii:  20. 


64*  THE    CHURCH. 

same  thing  on  precisely  the  same  grounds,  and  yet  dif- 
fer from  one  another  in  their  doctrines  and  ordinances. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  any  one  of  them  is  the  church 
of  Christ,  and  there  exists  no  means  to  determine 
which  of  them  ought  to  be  regarded  -as  his  society. 
They  do  not  "rest  upon  a  rock,"  but  upon  the  shifting 
sands  of  human  caprice  ;  they  do  not  have  unity  of 
faith,  nor  are  they  expanded  over  the  universal  world 
in  unity ;  they  have  not  the  means  to  sanctify  souls, 
and  are  uncertain  about  the  value  of  the  sacraments 
which'  they  profess  to  administer  ;  and  nearly  all  of 
them  laugh  to  scorn  the  necessity  of  the  apostolical 
succession,  or  where  some  pretend  to  it,  by  the  evidence 
of  history,  they  are  proved  not  to  be  in  the  line.  Their 
ministry  is  self  sent,  and  their  distinctive  doctrines  are 
made  up  of  negations  of  doctrines"  which  existed  be- 
fore their  origin,  and  which  have  been  perpetuated  in  the 
old  society  against  which  they  protest.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  four  marks  of  unity,  sanctity,  catholicity, 
and  apostoltcity,  are  found  together  in  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic church  only,  and  clearly  manifest  her  to  be  the 
church  which  Jesus  Christ  established,  to  be  the  means 
of  the  salvation  "of  men. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CnURCH — ITS  HIERARCHY — 
ITS  INFALLIBILITY — ITS  LEGISLATIVE  AND  COERCIVE 
AUTHORITY: — THE  POPE,  THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  HIE 
CHURCH — THE  NECESSITY  OF  THE  CHURCH^  OR  OUT 
THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION— ITS  MEMBERS  NOT  TO 
VISIT  THE  RELIGIOUS  ASSEMBLIES  OF  OTHER  DE- 
NOMINATIONS. 

Every  society  must   have    its  constitution,    or   that 
which  makes  it  what  it  is,  and  prevents  it  from  being 


TUB   cm  Km.  83 

something  else  different.     The  church  of  Christ  is  a 
visible,  external  society,  and  although  composed  of  men, 
it  was  not  founded   by  nlcn,  but  it  was  constituted  by 
God,  and  is  "  the  church  of  God."*    Jesus  Christ,  God 
as  well  as  man,  calls  it  his   church:    "On  this  rock  I 
will    found   my  church, "f  and   his   Apostle    says   that 
"the  church  is  the  body  of  Christ,"  meaning,  not  that 
it  is  his  natural  body,  but   that   it   is   his  myotic  body. 
But  Jesus  Christ  being  Trod  and  man,  and  the  church 
being  His  mystic  body,  it  is  like  its  head  in  this  respect," 
that  it  consists,  ;it   the   same   time,  of  that  which  is  di- 
vine and  that  which  is  human.     The  end  for  which  it 
is  constituted  being  supernatural,  viz.:  to  teach  the  re- 
vealed truth  of  God  to  all  nations,  to  apply  the   blood 
of  redemption  by  means  of  the  sacraments  to  individu- 
als, to  keep  its  members  together  in  unity  of  faith  and 
communion,  to  prepare  men  by  holiness  for  everlasting 
lite,  and  union  with  God,  it  was  necessary  that  it  should 
be  elevated  far  above  the  condition  of  a  mere  human 
organization.      Its  founder,  consequently,  gave  it  a  di- 
vine constitution,  with  powers,  authority,  and  force  su- 
perior to  any  that  a  mere  human  society  could  aspire 
to  or  obtain,  without  receiving  them  from  God  himself. 
It  is  composed  of  pastors  and  people ;  a  body,  termed 
the  clergy,  to  teach,  guide  and  govern,  the  members  of 
which  are  the  ministers  of  Christ,  his   agents,  his  am- 
bassadors, who  by  a  sacred  rite   arc  ordained,  and  re- 
ceive a  distinctive  character  ;  and  the  people,  for  whom 
they  are  to  labour,  whom  they  are  to  instruct,  to  whom 
they  are  to  dispense  the  supernatural  aids  purchased 
for  them  by  Christ,  and  to  be  applied  to  them.    Through 
his  agents  Christ  designs  himself  to  act,  and  thus  the 
sovereign  authority  of  Christ  is  represented,  and  exer- 
cised by  this  body,  called  "the  Clergy,"  the  Pastors, 
"  the  teaching  church."     The  church  herself  declares 
that,  in  her  hierarchy,  there  are  three  ranks,  Bishop?, 
Priests,  and  ministers,  or  deacons  ;  but  that  the  princi- 
pals or  chiefs  are  the  Bishops,  who  are  the  successors 

'  1  Tun.  iti :  15,  an. I  Acts  xx  :  28.         y  Math,  xxri  :  20. 


(JO  THE     OHUKOii. 

of  the  Apostles,  and  that  they  are  all  one  episcopate 
under  the  headship  or  principality  of  the  Pope,  who  is 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles. 
The  government  of  the  church,  as  representing  the 
sovereign  authority  of  Christ  its  invisible  head,  is  the 
body  of  bishops  or  chief  pastors,  with  their  visible 
head  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  or  the  Pope.  The  mission 
to  be  accomplished  by  the  church,  demanded  that  she 
should  be  invested  with  the  authority  of  Christ,  to  pre- 
serve, as  well  as  to  preach  pure  and  unchanged  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ;  for  the  church  of  Christ  is  his  reli- 
gion in  action  and,  as  it  were,  incarnate.  The  church 
then  must  always  be  the  true,  living  expression  of*  his 
religion,  or  Christ  acting  upon  the  people  for  their  sal- 
vation. The  church  is  the  way  and  means  of  salva- 
tion, and  can  be  tlie  way  and  mean's  of  salvation  only 
as  the  agent  of  Christ,  and  exercising  his  authority,  & 
divina  and  not  a  mere  human  authority. 

Infallibility  of  the  Church. 

The  church  could  not  represent  Christ  in  teaching 
the  truths  of  revelation,  and  in  presenting  to  mankind 
the  standard  of  moral  conduct,  unless  she  were  gifted 
with  the  prerogative  of  infallibility.  If*  her  teaching 
were  different  from  that  of  Christ,  and  could  be  false, 
she  would  be  unfit  for  her  mission.  Her  mission  is  to 
teach  the  truths  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  to  sanc- 
tify the  souls  of  men/  For  the  fulfilment  of  her  mis- 
sion, she  must  teach  with  unerring  certainty,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  promised  and  given  to  her  to  abide 
with  her  forever,  in  order  to  enlighten,  animate,  and 
direct  her  in  her  work.*  It  is  true  the  teachers  are 
only  men,  but  Christ,  who  is  with  them  as  a  teaching 
hierarchy,  is  God ;  the  Holy  Ghost  is  God ;  and  these 
teachers  are  continuing  the  work  of  God  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men.  The  chief  mediator  i&^  concealed,  and  the 
instrument  is  human,  but  the  effect  is  to  be  produced 

*John  xiv  :    16.  26. 


/ 


THE    CHU&CH.  GT 

by  truth  and  grace,  and  therefore  the  medium  of  instru- 
ment though  human,  must  infallibly  dispense  truth  and 
grace,  in  order  to  secure  the  effect.  The  infallibility  is 
the  attribute  of  the  concealed  mediator,  Jesus  Christ, 
but  it  is  the  prerogative  of  his  church,  as  representing 
him.  He. continues  to  act  through  and  with  his  church, 
for  the  salvation  of  men.  "Behold  I  am  with  you  all 
days"  to  assist  you.*  This  prerogative  of  infallibility 
is  with  the  church  in  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  her  mission.  It  does  not  give  to  in- 
dividuals .of  the  hierarchy  exemption  from  sin,  or  guar- 
antee that  they  may  not  lose  their  souls,  but  it  insures 
to  the  people,  who  are  taught  and  governed,  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  trjje  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  his 
precepts  for  the  conduct  of  their  lives.  In  the  matters 
which  pertain  to  faith  and  morals,  they  are  :;tade  cer- 
tain, that  they  are  taught  and  directed,  Without  error  or 
mistake,  according  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  Holy  Spirit, 
The  persons  who  are  taught,  hear  the  voice  of  the 
church,  the  teaching  of  the  body  of  bishops  in  union 
with  the  sovereign  pontiff,  as 'the  voice  of  Chrjst,  for 
Christ  is  with  his  church  "all  days,"  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  teaching  by  her  voice.  When  Christ  was  on 
earth,  he  seemed  to  be  merely  man,  in  all  things  ap- 
pearing as  man,  yet  he  was  God  also,  and  he  was  infal- 
lible; so  also  the  church,  composed  of  men,  seems  to 
be  merely  a  human  society,  but  it  is  the  church  of 
Christ,  founded  by  him,  authorized  by  him,  teaching 
and  acting  for  him,  and  therefore  it  is  niore  than  hu- 
man, it  is  divinely  constituted,  and  has  the  prerogative 
to  speak:  and  teach  for  Christ  with"  unerring  certainty. 
But,  as  it  must  do  this  work  until  the  consummation  of 
the  world,  it  can  never  fail  or  .fall  away  from  Ohrist, 
but  is  indefectible.  Christ  promised- that  error  and 
crime  or  "the  gates  of  Hell  shall  never  prevail  against 
it.''f  "For  tliis  cause,"  pays  St.  Ignatius,  "did  the 
Lo.d  take  the  ointment  on  his  head,  that  he  might 
breathe  in  corruption  on  the  church,  "t     "  Hence  we 


'Mtfib.  xxviii :  20.    tMail*  xvi-18.    JSt   [gn.  Kp  ad  Ephes.  n.  1' 


68  THE    CHURCH, 

may  understand,"  says  St.  Jerome,  "that  even  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  the  church  may  be  indeed  shaken  by 
persecutions,  but  never  can  be  overthrown ;  be  tried, 
not  conquered."*  And  St.  Augustine  remarks: 
"  There  are  some  who  say:  'she,  that  was  ike  church 
of  all  nations,  is  already  no  more;  she  has  perished.' 
This  they  say  who  are  not  in  her.  Impudent  asser- 
tion !  Is  she  no  more  because  thou  art  not  in  her  ? 
Look  to  it  lest  thou,  for  that  cause,  be  no  more:  for  she 
will  be,  though  thou  be  not."f 

Although  the  terra  infallibility  is  not  used  in  the 
profession  of  faith,  made  by  those  adults  who  are  re- 
ceived into  the  church,  and  by  members  on  certain  oc- 
casions which  require  it,  and  it  is  not  e^n  used  by  the 
council' of  Trent  in  her  decree,  yet  that,  which  the  term 
signifies,  viz:  inerrableness,  or  inability  to  err  or  teach 
falsely,  or  to  decide  falsely,  when  judging  and  decid- 
ing the  sense  of  the  Scriptures,  and  proposing  what  is 
of  faith,  is  a  dogma  of  faith,  to  which  no  Catholic  can 
refuse  to  assent  without  the  guilt  of  heresy.  It  is  of 
faith,  that  the  church  proposing  the  faith  cannot  err. on 
account  of  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  promised 
to  her,!  for  "it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie."§  The 
council  says:  the  Holy  synod  "decrees  that  no  one  re- 
lying on  his  own  skill,  shall,  in  matters  of  faith,  and  of 
morals  pertaining  to  the  edification  of  Christian  doc- 
trines,— wresting  the  sacred  Scriptures  to  his  own 
senses,  presume  to  interpret  the  said  sacred  Scripture 
contrary  to  that  sense  which  holy  mother  church, — 
whose  it  is  to  judge  />f  the  true  sense  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  holy  Scriptures, — hath  held  and  doth  hold; 
or  even  contrary  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fa- 
thers'."||  The  profession  of  faith  says:  I  profess  that 
I  believe  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic  and  Ecclesias- 
tical traditions,  and  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  we 
must  Interpret,  and  understand  only  in  the  sense  which 


*  St.  Jerom.  in  Amos.       f  St.  Augf.  on  Ps.  oi.       J  John  xiv:  16— 
2fi  and  xvi:   13.         §'Heb.  vi :   t8.        ||  Seas.  IV.  Decree  on  the  use 

of  the  sacred  books. 


THE    CHURCH. 

our  holy  mother,  the  Catholic  church,  has  held,  and 
does  hold."  The  unerring  authority  of  the  church,  in 
the  order  for  which  it  was  conferred,  can  only  cease  to 
belong  to  her  when  she  ceases  to  be  the  church  of 
Christ  and  to  have  with  her  the  Holy  Ghost  who  was 
promised  to  be  with  her  forever,  or  always. 

The  Legislative  and  Coercive  Authority  of  the  Church. 

The  church,  being  a  permanent,  constituted  society, 
subjected  to  a  hierarchy,  has  received  from  Christ  a 
spiritual  power  to  govern  its  members.  The  power  is 
invested  in  the  body  of  pastors  united  under  their  head, 
the  pope,  and  is  commensurate  with  the  mission  given  to 
the  church  for  the  salvation  of  men.  It  is  a  tenet  of 
Catholic  faith,  that  this  spiritual  power  is  independent 
of  the  civil  power,  and  that  Christ  gave  authority  to 
his  church  to  pass  laws  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the. 
members,  and  to  punish,  with  lawful  censures,  those 
who  rebel  against  them.  These  laws  are  binding  on  the 
members ;  and  the  spiritual  penalties,  when  really  de- 
served, will  be  .enforced  by  God,  whose  authority  is  in- 
vested in  his  church.  While  the  sacrifice  of  the  new 
law  and  the  sacraments  in  their  essentials  have  been 
established  by  Christ  himself,  he  has  left  to  his  church 
to  pass  the  laws,  which  regulate  the  liturgy,  the  sacred 
rites  of  worship,  the  ceremonies  pertaining  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments,  the  institution  of  min- 
isters in  the  offices  of  the  church,  the  abstinences  and 
fasts,  the  observance  of  Sundays  and  feasts,  the  condi- 
tions of  vows,  and  of  the  rules  of  religious  orders,  and 
what  generally  pertains  to  ecclesiastical  discipline.  And 
the  ecclesiastical  penalties  arc,  like  the  powers,  spirit- 
ual, such  as  excommunication,  suspension,  interdict, 
privation  of  sacred  functions,  or  of  a  spiritual  office  ; 
privation  of  the  sacraments,  deposition,  degradation, 
and  such  like. 


TU  THE    CHUhCil, 


The  Pope  the  Visible  Head  of  the  Church. 

Jesus  Christ,  in  constituting  his  church,  chose  his 
twelve  Apostles,  and  made  St.  Peter  the  chief  or  head. 
To  him  he  gave  "the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"* 
and  under  him  placed  the  whole  of  his  sheepfold,  "the 
lambs  and  the  sheep. "f  It  is  a  tenet  of  Catholic  faith, 
that  the  Pope,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  is  the  head 
of  the  body  of  pastors,  and  visible  head  of  the  whole 
church.  The  Pope  has  not  only  the  primacy  of  honour,  „ 
but  also  of  jurisdiction,  or  authority  and  power,  over 
the  whole  body  of  bishops,  and  the  whole  visible  church, 
and  not  by  the  result  of  circumstances,  not  by  usurpa- 
tion, not  by  concession  of  kings  and  nations,  but  by  di- 
vine right,  and  by  the  express  institution  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  virtue  of  his  primacy,  the  Pope  convokes 
and  presides  over  general  councils,  confirms  their  de- 
crees, and  decides  with  authority  in  matters  of  faith 
and  morals.  -He. enacts  laws  which  oind  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  ;  and  appoints  bishops,  assigning  to 
them  a  portion  of  the  vineyard  o£  the  Lord,  or  of  the 
flock  of  Christ,  and  governs  the  whole  flock,  bishops, 
priests  and  people. 

"Whether  the  Pope,  teaching  as  vicar  of  Christ,  and 
ex  cathedra  in  matters  of  faith  and  morals,  is  protect- 
ed from  erring  by  a  certain  divine  assistance,  or,"  as  it  is 
termed,  is  infallible,  is  not  a  settled  point,  some  the- 
ologians having  maintained  that  he  is  not,  while  others 
have  contended  that  he  13  infallible.  All  agree  that 
speaking  unofficially,  and  a3  a  private  doctor,  he  doe3 
not  possess  this  prerogative.  But  no  point*  of  his 
teaching  as  head  of  the  church,  or  ex  cathedra,  has 
been  disputed  by  the  body  of  bishops.  And  to  any  one 
who  will  impartially  meditate  on  the  institution  of  the 
church,  on  the  promises  of  Christ  to  St.  Peter,  on  the  duty 
of  his  office  to  "confirm  his  brethren, "t  and  also  reflect  on 
the  vast  responsibility  of  the  office  of  head  of  thfc  church, 

•Math,  xv:  :  18, 19.     f  John  sxi :  15,  16,  17.     J  St.  Luke  xxii:  32. 


I 


TIIE    CHUftCH.  71 

it  must  be  manifest  that  Christ,  for  the  preservation  of 
truth  and  the  welfare  of  souls,  has  really  bestowed  upon 
the  Pope,  as  his  representative  and  vicar,  this  high 
prerogative  in  all  his  official  teaching  on  matters  of 
faith  and  morals.  Upon  this  point  there  has  been  no 
decision  given  by  the  churchytand  therefore  persons  can 
choose  the  opinion  which  appears  to  have  for  it  the  best 
reasons  and  arguments. 

The  following  will  show  what  all  have  to  hold  as  of 
faith  with  respect  to  the  authority  of  the  Pope  and  the 
■  primacy  of  tiie  Holy  See: 

••I  acknowledge  the  Holy,  Catholic,  Apostolic  Ro- 
man church  as  the  mother  and  mistress  of  "all  churches  ; 
and  I  promise  and  swear  true  obedience  to  the  Roman 
Pontif,  successor  of  Blessed  Peter  prince  of  the  Apos- 
tles, and  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ." — Creed  of  Pius  IV. 

"  The  Holy  Sjmod  furthermore  exhorts  and-,  by  the 
most  holy  advent  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  conjures  all 
pastors  that,  like  good  soldiers,  they  sedulously  recom- 
mend to  all  the  faithful  all  those  things  which  the 
Holy  Roman  church,  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all 
churches,  has  ordained,  as  also  those  things  which,  as 
well  in  this  council,  as  in  the  other  oecumenical  coun- 
cils, have  been  ordained,  and  to  use  all  diligence  that 
they  be  observant  of  all  thereof." — Counc.  Trent,  Sess. 
sexv :  p.  278,   Wattertvprth's  Translation. 

The  council  of  Florence  makes  the  following  defini- 
tion: "We  define  that  the  Holy  Apostolic  See,  and  the 
Roman  Pontif  hold  the  primacy  over  the  whole  world, 
that  the  Roman  Pontif  is  the  successor  of  Blessed  Pe- 
ter, prince  of  the  Apostles,  that  he  is  true  vicar  of 
Christ  and  head  of  the  whole  church,  and  the  Father 
and  Teacher  of  all  Christians,  and  to  him  in  Blessed 
Peter  was  delivered  by  Christ  full  power  to  feed,  rule, 
and  govern  the  universal  church,  as' is  also  contained  in 
"the  acts  of  oecumenical  councils,  and  in  the  sacred  ca- 
nons."—^ Bulla  Eug.  IV.     "Laitentur  Cceli." 

"Also  the  Holy  Roman  church  itself  obtains  supreme 
and  full  primacy  and  principality  over  the  whole  Cath- 
olic church,  which  he  recoguioes  truly  and  humbly  that 


72  THE    CHURCH, 

it  received^  with  plenitude  of  power,  from  the  Lord  him- 
self in  Blessed  Peter,  the  prince  or  head  of  the  Apos- 
tles, whose  successor  is  the  Roman  Pontif." — Profes- 
sion of  faith  of  Michael  Palaxologus,  as  offered  by  him 
in  the  second  general  council  of  Lyons,  in  1274. 

The  Necessity  of  the  Church,  or  out  of  the  Church,  no 
Salvation. 

Jesus  Christ  says  of  himself:  "I  am  the  way,  the 
truth  and  the  life.  No  man  cometh  to  the  Father  but 
by  me."*  Jesus  Christ  is  the  head  of  "the  church 
which  is  his  body,"  and  hence  the  church  is  bound  to 
:-ay :  "no  man  cometh  to  Jesus  Christ  but  by  me."  The 
church  must  maintain  that  she  is  necessary,  and  that 
no  society,  which  men  may  organize  and  dignify  with 
the  name  of  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  will  answer  instead 
of  her.  She  is  forced  to  maintain  that  men  cannot  do 
without  her,  and  cannot  obtain  salvation  if  they  wilful- 
ly separate,  -or  stay  separated,  from  her.  The  church 
is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  organized  and  living,  and 
is  consequently  the  amy  of  saltation.  To  deny  this 
truth  is  the  same  as  to  repudiate;  all  divinely  revealed 
religion,  and  to  pretend  that  there  is  no  fixed  "house 
of  God,"  no  "column  to  uphold  the  truth,"  no  .defined 
way  by  which  men. can  know  and  practice  the  doctrines 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

All  Catholics  have  to  assent  to  this  doctrine,  that 
the  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  one,  holy,  catholic,  and 
apostolical,  is  the  necessary  and  indispensable  way  of 
salvation,  and  that  no  person,  who  is  ivilfully  separated 
from  this  church,  can  be  saved.  As  St.  Cyprian  says: 
"He,  who  has  not  the  church  for  his  mother,  cannot 
have  God  for  his  Father,  "f  Again:  "  Whosoever  he 
be,  and  whatsoever  he  be,  he  is  no  Christian,  who  is  not 
in  Christ's  church.";}; 

A  person,  by  his  own  will,  being  out  of  the  church 


*  John  xiv  :   6.     f  Cyp.  de  Unitate.     %  Cyp.  Ep.  LII.  ad  AtUonia- 
nuni  p    156. 


THE    CHURCH.  73 

^f  Jesus  Christ,  is  cut  by  his  own  fault.  He  believes 
differently  from  the  church,  and  has  not  the  one  faith 
necessary.  If  he  obstinately  adheres  to  opinions  con- 
demned by  the  church,  he  is  guilty  of  heresy.  If  he 
holds  all  ffhat  the  church  believes,  but  refuses  to  submit  to 
her  authority,  he  is  guilty  of  schism,  or  of  dividing  tho 
unity  of  the  church.  The  Scriptures  clearly  say  that 
those  guilty  of  heresy,  schisms,  and  sects,  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  Gcd. 

If  a  person  is  out  of  the  church  by  accident,  and 
without  will  of  his  own,  and  without  his  own  fault,  he 
will  not  be  for  this  condemned;  and  if  he  possess  the 
conditions  for  salvation  which  God  requires  from  one 
in  these  circumstances,  God  will  not  reject  him  for  not 
being  in  his  church,  which  he  did  not  know,  but  of 
which,  without  any  fault,  he  was  ignorant.  But  such 
•i  person  may  be  really  of  the  church,  by  his  disposi- 
tions, his  good  faith,  and  his  endeavours,  according  to 
the  lights  and  graces  he  has  received,  to  do  all  that  he 
thinks  required  of  him  by  God.  God,  in  his  infinite  mer- 
cy, will  not  allow  such  to  perish,  but,  by  means  known 
to  himself,  will  attract  them  into  the  way  that  ends  in 
eternal  life. 

But  such  persons  can  only  be  excused  for  not  being 
in  external  union  with  the  church,  as  long  as  their  good 
faith  and  their  ignorance  endure.  They  become  culpa- 
ble by  a  neglect  to  seek  and  enter  the  church,  when 
God  gives  them  light  to  suspect,  or  to  know,  that  they 
are  out  of  his  church.  All  persons  duly  baptized,  no 
matter  by  whom  this  sacrament  was  administered,  are 
made  members  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  hence  all 
infants,  who  are  baptized,  are  children  of  the  church. 
They  continue*  in  the  church,  after  they  attain  the  use 
of  reason,  until,  with  knowledge  and  by  their  will,  they 
take  part  with  heresy  or  schism,  and  become  separated 
from  the  church.  "  We  must,"  says  Pope  Pius  IX.  in 
his  encyclical  of  December  9th,  1854,  "Wejnust,  in 
i'tfet,  admit  as  of  faith,  that  out  of  the  Roman,  Apos- 
tolic church  no  one  can  be  saved,  that  she  is  the  only 
ark  of  salvatbu.  and  that,  whoever  shall  not  hare  fn- 
.4 


74  THE   CHURCH.  ' 

tered  will  parish  by  the  deluge  ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  must  recognize  with  certitude  that  those  who,  with 
respect  to  the  true  religion,  are  in  an  invincible  igno- 
rance, do  not  carry  the  fault  thereof  before  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord.  Now,  in  truth,  who,  in  his  arrogance,  will 
pretend  to  mark  the  limit  of  this  ignorance,  according 
to  the  character  and  diversity  of  peoples,  countries, 
mii.ds,  and  so  many  other  things  ?"  We  mu^t  leave  to 
pod  to  determine  who  are  »ot  in  his  church  without  any 
fault  on  their  part,  while  we  hold  it  as  certain,  that  all 
who  seek  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  to 
secure  it,  are  obliged  to  become  members  of  his  church, 
if  it  is  in  their  power. 

The  Members  of  the  Church  should  avoid  the  Religious 
Assemblies  of  other  Denominations. 

When  any  one  reflects  upon  the  evil  of  error  and 
dissension  in  matters  of  religion,  and  considers  for 
what  end  Jesus  Christ  instituted  his  church,  and  ''pur- 
chased it  with  his  blood,"  he  will  at  once  feel  that  it  is 
criminal,  in  one  of  it?  members,  hy  word  or  example, 
to  encourage  those  who  belong  to  sectarian  or  separated 
churches,  having  their  peculiar  doctrines,  prayers,  and 
worship.  The  Apostle  St.  John  says:  '* Whosoever 
revolteth  and  continueth  not  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
hath  not  God."  And  he  tells  the  faithful  not  to  re- 
ceive such,  or  say  to  them  "Geo  spied."  ''For  he 
that  saith  to  him  God  speed,  eomraunicateth  wi\h  his 
kicked  works."*  It  is  necessary  for  the  members  of 
the  church  openly  to  confess  their  faith:  "This  is  the 
word  of  faith,  which  we  preach,  that  if  thou  confess 
with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  believe  in  thy  heart 
that  God  hath  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt 
be  saved.  For,  with  the  heart,  we  believe  unto  justice; 
but,  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation,  "j 
"Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  confess  me  before  men,  I 

*  8  Ep.  St.  Jebn,  9— II      fBsn    x    8,9. 


IRE    CHL'ItCE.  TO 

trill  also  confer  him  before  my  Father  who  is  in  hea- 
ven."* The  externa]  profession  of  the  word  of  faith 
for  to  believe  is  not  sufficient,  when  the 
external  conduct  conflicts  with  this  faith  :  For,  "not 
every  one  that  saith  to  me,  Lord,  Lord,  nter  into 

the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  he  that  doth  the  will  of  my 
Father  who  is  in  hea\en,  he  shall  enter  into  the  king- 
dom cf  heaven."!  A  person  may  deny  his  faith,  and 
thus  deny  Christ,  as  -well  by  means  of  signs,  actions, 
and  general  conduct,  as  by  words.  "  If  a  man  should 
lose  his  life  for  Christ's  sake,"  we  are  assured  that  "he 
■will  thereby  save  his  soul,"  for  this,  hy  his  conduct., 
is  a  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  for 
him.  But  it  is  never  lawful,  even  in  order  to  save  life 
ifse{f,  to  do  any  act  in  contradiction  with  faith  in  Christ; 
for  thus  a  man  will  h?,e  his  soul,  which  is  more  valuable 
than  all  things  else  together.  If  he  cannot  be  allowed 
to  do  such  acts  to  save  life,  it  is  of  course  far  more 
criminal  to  do  them  for  less  imperious  reasons.  Then 
what  are  we  to  think  of  persons  weak  enough  to  act 
thus  from  curiosity,  indifference,  huma*n  respect,  or  still 

•  '  ignoble  motives  ?     If  a     erson,  by  his  way  of  act? 
ihg,  imp'..  truth  of  God;  implies  that  doctrines, 

contrary  to  what  God  reveals  and  his  church  proposes, 
m*y  be  true;  denies  the  absolute  necessity  and  true 
claims  of  the  church,  by  so  conducting  himself  as  to 
cause  it  to  be  supposed  that  he  considers  other  churches 
shea  of  God,  and  other  doctrines  as  possibly 
Christian  doctrines,  and  members  as  really  true 

Christians,  no  matter  what  their  creed  or  condition  ;  he 
as  truly  denies  Christ  aa  if  .'is  did  so  in  as  many  words, 
and  is  guilty  of  the  grievous  sin,  which  the  Apostle  St, 
John  calls:  "communicating  with  the  works,"  of  those, 
of  whom  Christ  said,  '-beware,"  and  whom  Sc.  John 
himself  cautions  the  faithful  to  "avoid."];  The  com- 
mand t«i  beware  of  their.,  and  to  avoid  them,  regards 
particularly  the  affeiir  of  religion,  for  in  mere  social  or 

tieal  matters,  there  is  not  the  same   necessity,  and 

-th.  x:  3-2.  f  Math,  vii :  21..  |  Tit.  Hi:  10. 


ft)  HE     CHUR'-ri 

"unless  men  went  out  of  this  world1'*  altogether,  they 
must  need  hold  communication  with  persons  .  of  all 
shades  of  religious  opinions,  for  temporal  affairs.  But 
religion,  there  is  no  *uch  necessity,  and  the  prohi- 
bition is  to  be  observed  under  pain  of  sin. 

"We  charge  you,  therefore,  brethren,  in  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves 
from  every  brother  walking  disorderly"  (contrj 
tablisbed  order)  ";and  not  according  to  the  tradition 
which  they  have  received  from  us."t  Order  requires 
obedience  to  those  "appointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
rule  the  church  of  God."  The  faith  is  one,  the  body 
is  one,  the  authority  is  one,  and  it  is  "disorderly,"  to 
set  up  another  authority,  or  to  constitute  another  body 
or  church,  and  to  bring  in  doctrines  opposed  "to  the 
tradition."  It  Ls  the  Apostle's  express  injunctrbn,  "to 
withdraw"  from  all  such.  Hie  gives  this  command,  "in 
the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  For  he  asks  in 
another  place:  "Know  you  not  that  a  little  leaven  cor- 
ruptcth  the  whole  lump  f"J  "Now  I  beseech  you,  bre- 
thren, to  mark  them  who  cause  dissensions  and  offences 
contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  you  have  learned,  and  to 
avoid  them."§  This  is  a  command,  "in  form  of  an  ear- 
nest entreaty,  to  Jo  their  acknowledged  duty,  and  avoid 
all  who  cause  or  keep  up  dissent  from  the  received  and 
delivered  doctrines  of  the  church.  If  such  persons  art 
not  in  unity  of  belief,  or  not  in  unity  of  communion. 
is  enough  to  make  it  a  duty  to  avoid  them.  And  cer- 
tainly, the  most  liberal  interpretation  of  such  a  com- 
mand would  be,  to  say,  at  the  very  least,  that  they 
should  be  avoided  in  all  matters  of  religion.  If  not 
extended  to  this,  the  injunction  means  nothing  at  all, 
There  are  many  reasons  for  this  law. 

1.-  The  fear  of  .perversion  is  one  reason  for  it.  "Take 
heed  that  no  man  seduce  you,  for  many  will  come  i:-. 
my  name,  saying,  "I  am  Christ,  and  they  will  seduce 
many."|      "Beware  of  false  prophets,"  says   the  Sa- 

*1  Cor.  v:  10.      \2  Thes?.  iii :  6.      it  CotTt:  6.       gRpm.  16 

i  Vu<U.  Y>1'-      i     §» 


tUK    CHUfiCH, 

viour,  that  is,  avoid  them,  do  not  listen  to  them.  "Let 
no  man  deceive  you  with  vain  words.  For  because  of 
those  things  cometh  the  anger  of  God  upon  the  chil- 
dren of  unbelief.  Be  ye  not  partakers  with  them."* 
You  may  think  that  you  hear  an  eloquent  discourse, 
very  beautiful  indeed,  and  well  delivered,  but  what  does 
it  amount  to  but  "vain  words,"  if  from  "the  children 
of  unbelief?"  And  you  may  be  "deceived,"  and  in- 
voke upon  your  head  "the  anger  of  God,"  who  per- 
haps may  permit  you  fondly  to  believe  some  opinion  no 
better  than  "old  wives  fables." 

2.  The  giving  of  scandal  is  another  reason.  Reli- 
gious indifference  is  the  great  evil  of  the  age.  The  no- 
tion that  any  creed  and  any  church  will  take  a  man  to 
heaven,  and  if  so,  that  a  man  can  just  as  easily  get 
there  without  church  and  creed,  seems  to  be  fashiona- 
ble;  and  this  false  and  fatal  notion  receives  encourage- 
ment from  the  Catholic,  who  goes  to  the  religious  as- 
semblies.of  the  sects.  Besides,  his  going,  if  he  be  of 
imy  standing  and  influence,  is  an  example,  whieh  weak- 
er and  less  instructed  members  may  imitate  to  their 
ruin.     It  is  the  sin  of  scandal'. 

3.  It  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  seeming  denial  of  the  faith, 
and  of  the  exclusive  right  of  the  church  to  be  regarded 
as  the  church  of  Christ.  If  the  other  churches  are  not- 
true  churches,  why  encourage  them  by  your  pres'ence?  If 
they  are  true,  then  the  Catholic  church  has  no  right  to 
.-lit  exclusive  claim  of  being  the  Church  of  Christ.  But 
your  going  to  them  is  a  decision  agains'  her  claim. 
You  then  deny  her,  and  if  she  ie  Christ's  church,  as 
you  profess,  you  thereby  deny  Christ.  In  some  places, 
for  a  Catholic  to  be  seen  at  some  other  place  of  wor- 
ship, is  by  all  considered  as  equivalent  to  abandoning 
his  church,  or  at  least,  to  be  a  sign  that  he  is  not  very 
firm  in  his  faith.  We  are  told,  that  the  virtuous  Elea- 
zer  would  not  save  his  life  by  seeming  to  do  wha,t  his 
persecutor  required  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  al- 
though in  reality  his  friends  offered  him  the  opportune 

•   Ephei.  v  :  6 


'{ a  THK    CilUECH- 

ty  to  avoid  breaking  the  law,  while  seeming  to  do  what 
the  heathen  king  commanded.  He  preferred  rather  to 
die  than  dissemble,  and  thus  give  scandal  to  persons 
younger,  who  might  think  his  dissimulation  could  be 
imitated,  and  "he  preferred  a  glorious  death  to  a  hate- 
ful life."     2  Machab.  iv:  19,  20,  &c. 

If  the  mere  attending  other  places  of  worship  be 
wrong  for  a  Catholic,  how  grievously  sinful  is  it  to  take 
part  in  the  worship,  prayers,  and  other  religious  func- 
tions ;  to  Conform  and  act  as  if  a  member  of  such 
church!  This  is  emphatically  the  sin  of  "communica- 
tion in  divine  things"  with  those  not  of  the  household 
of  the  faith.  The  translators  of  the  New  Tesrament, 
published  iirst  at  Rheims,  say  in  a  note  :  "  That  in  mat- 
ters of  religion,  in  praying,  hearing  their  sermons,  j 
ence  at  their  service,  partaking  of  their  sacraments, 
and  all  other  communicating  with  them  in  spiritual 
things,  it  is  a  great  and  damnable  sin." 

The  ancient  Apostolical  canons  have  the  following  : 
"If  any  bishop,  priest,"  or  deacon,  shall  join  in  prayers 
with  heretics,  let  him  be  suspended  from  communion. " 
Can.  44.  Again  :  "  If  any  clergyman  or  lay  person, 
shall  go  into  the  synagogue  of  tbe  Jews,  or  the  meet- 
ings of  heretics,  to  join  in  prayer  with  them,  let  them  be 
deposed  and  deprived  of  communion." — Can.  6'6. 

The  Council  of  Carthage,  held  in  398,  thus  speaks:. 
"None  must  either  pray  or  sing  Psalms  with  heretics; 
and  whosoever  shall  communicate  with  those  who  are 
cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  church,  whether 
clergyman  or  layman,  let  him  be  excommunicated.'  — 
Civ:  72,73. 

To  tbe  English  Catholics,  in  times  of  the  existence 
.of  the  penal  laws  requiring  them,  from  time  to"  time,  to 
go  to  the  law-established  church,  Pope  Paul  IV.  wrote, 
commending  their  constancy  in  the  faith  in  spite  of  ca- 
lamities and  tribulations,  and  among  other  things,  he 
thus  wrote:  "  Urged  by  the  seal  of  our  pastoral-  duty, 
and  from  the  paternal  solicitude  with  which  we  daily 
labor  for  the  salvation  of  your  souls,  we  are  forced 
to  admonish    and   ectojure  -von.  that    on    no  account. 


SCRIPTURE    AND    TRADITION.  "79 

you  go  to  the  churches  of  heretics,  or  hear  their  ser 
mons,  or  join  in  their  rites,  lest  ye  incur  the  wrath  of 
God,  for  it  is  not  lawful  for  you  to  do  such  things, 
without  dishonouring  God,  and  hurting  jour  own  souls." 
This  will  apply  to  Catholics  of  all  places  and  times. 
Though  many,  either  thoughtlessly  or  with  indifference, 
act  contrary  to  the  divine  commands,  and  the  laws  of 
the  church,  and  frequent  other  places  of  worship  from 
curiosity,  fashion,  or  for  the  sake,  of  friends,  let  them 
feel  assured  that  they  never  do  this  without  sin,  and 
that  they  will  have  to  give  an  account  to  God  for  ex- 
posing their  faith,  and  giving  scandal,  as  also  for  seem- 
ing to  approve  separated  churches. 

The  same  principles  and. reasons  show  that  it  is  sin- 
ful to  write,  print,  publish,  sell,  or  read  books,  that  are 
contrary  to  faith  and  morals.  The  ecclesiastical  au- 
thorities have  continued,  from  the  days  the  converts 
burned  their  books  at  the  feet  of  the  Apostles,  as  nar- 
rated in  Acts  xix.,  to  exercise  censorship  over  books, 
and,  under  severe  penalties,  to  prohibit  such  as  were 
found  false,  or  dangerous  to  virtue.  The  members  of 
the  church  are  bound  to  respect  such  censure  and  pro- 
hibition, under  the  risk  of  sin  and  excommunication. 


CHAPTER    X. 

OF   HOLY    SCRIPTURE    AND    TRADITION — THE    OLD   TES- 
TAMENT— THE    NEW   TESTAMENT — TRADITION. 

The  truths  which  we  are  to  believe,  and  the  morals 
which  are  to  govern  our  conduct,  are  made  known  to  us 
by  the  revelation  of  God.  This  revelation  is  known  as 
the  word  of  Q-od.  God  has  spoken  to  men  in  two 
modes,  viz:  by  the  way  of  written  books,  and  by  Tra- 
dition. The  written  books  are  called  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tureSf  or  the  Scriptures,  and,  in  their  collection,  the  Bi- 
ble.    But  rnanv  divine  revelations  were  delivered  orally. 


SO  SCRIPTURE    A:S'D    TRAJHTlOX. 

as  well  under  the  old  dispensation  as  under  the  new,  or 
gospel  law.  Jesus  Christ  taught  the  divine  truths  of 
his  religion  to  his  Apostles  orally,  and  he  commissioned 
them  so  to  preach  them.  Hence,  his  church,  in  teach- 
ing all  nations,  rests  her  teaching  on  the  deposit  of  rev- 
elation as  found  in  the  Scriptures  and  Tradition.  Her 
decisions  in  general  council,  or  by  her  head  in  agree- 
ment with  the  bishops  dispersed,  define  the  points  of 
Faith  only,  and  do  not  make  the  doctrines. 

The  Scriptures  arc  the  collection  of  the  divinely  in- 
spired books,  which  have  escaped  the'injury  of  time, 
and  have  come  down  to  us  with  complete  genuineness 
and  authenticity.  They  consist  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  as  avowed  by  the  Catholic  church. 
"What,"  asks  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  "is  the  Holy  > 
Scriptures  but  an  epistle  sent  by  the  Omnipotent  God 
to  his  creatures  V* 

There  are  two  testaments,  the  last  the  unveiling  of 
the  first.  The  difference  existing  between  the  Ancient 
and  New  law,  may  be  summed  up  as  follows :  1st,  As 
to  the  author  ;  the  authors  of  the  old  law  are  especially 
Moses,  and  afterwards  the  prophets;  the  author  of  the 
Gospel  is  Jesus  Christ,  true  God  and  true  man.  2. 
The  ancient  law  is  less  perfect  than  the  new.  8.  The  an- 
cient law  is  but  the  shadow  of  the  new,  the  gospel  is 
the  manifest  truth.  4.  The  ancient  law  was  a  law  of 
fear ;  the  gospel  is  a  law  of  love.  5.  The  ancient 
promised  terrestrial  and  perishable  goods;  the  gospel 
promises  grace,  heaven  ;  and  it  conducts  to  it.  6.  The 
law  was  a  galling  yoke ;  the  gospel  is  a  light  burden. 
7.  The  law  was  a  road  leading  to  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
gospel ;  the  gospel  and  Jesus  Christ  are  the  term  of 
the  law,  for  Jesus  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law,  as  St. 
Paul  says:  Finis  leg  is  Christ  us.  (Rom.  x.)  8.  The 
law  was  given  to  the  Jews  only ;  the  gospel  is  given  to 
all  nations.-  9.  The  law  was  only  for  a  time :  the  gospel 
shall  last  forever;  it  shall  be  eternal.  10.  The  law  was 
imperfect,  the  gospel  is  perfect,  whether  considered  a3 

*  Lib.  iv.  En.  Ixxxir. 


.SCRIPTURE   AND    TRADITION.  Si 

regards  doctrine  or  morals.  II.  The  ancient  law  was  a 
law  of  servitude  :  the  gospel  is  a  law  of  liberty,  of  the 
spirit,  of  beneficence  and  charity.  12.  The  law  gave 
onlv  the  precepts  and  what  was  conformed  to  nature  : 
the  gospel  gives  precepts  and  counsels,  divine  and  su- 
pernatural thing.-,  surpassing  nature.  13.  The  law 
proposes  to  the  understanding  the  command  in  its  bar- 
renness ;  the  gospel,  with  the  precepts  and  counsels,  of- 
fers grace  for  the  accomplishment  of  both.  14.  The 
law  never  created  an  Apostle;  the  gospel  has  produced 
many  of  them.* 

The  books,  which  the  Catholic  church  holds  as  the 
inspired  word  of  God,  and  places  in  the  canon  or  cata- 
logue of  inspired  writings,  are  seventy-two  in  number, 
of  which  forty-five  belong  to  the  Old,  and  twenty-seven 
to  the  New  Testament. 

The  books  of  the  Old  Testament  are ;  the  five  books 
of  Moses,  viz:  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers, 
and  Deuteronomy  ;  then  Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  4  books 
of  Kings,  1st  and  2d  of  Paralipomenon,  First  of  Es- 
dras,  and  the  second  of  Esdras  or  Neheroias,  Tobias, 
Judith.  Esther,  Job,  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes, 
Canticle  of  Canticles,  Wisdom,  Ecclesiasiicus,  lsaias, 
dffremias  including  Lamentations,  Barueh,  Ezechiel, 
Daniel,  Osee,  Joel,  Amos,  Abdias,  Jonas,  Micheas,  Na- 
hum,  Habaccuc,  Sophonias,  Aggeus,  Za'charias,  Mala- 
chias,  and  1st  and  2d  Machabees. 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are :  the  four  gos- 
pels, or  St.  Mathew,  St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  and  St.  John. 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  fourteen  Epistles  of  St. 
Paul,  viz:  Romans,  1st  and  2d  Corinthians,  Galatians, 
Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  two  to  the  Thes*a- 
lonians,  two  to  Timothy,  Titus,  Philemon,  and  He- 
brews, two  Epistles  of  St.  Peter,  three  Epistles  of  St. 
John,  St.  James,  St.  Jude,  and  the  Apocalypse  of  St. 
John. 

Although  some  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  termed  Dcittero-Canonical,  because  not  found  in  the 

*  From  Corn,  a  Lapide. 


S'2  SCRIPTURE   AND    TRADITION. 

canon  drawn  up  by  Esdras,  some  of  them  having  been 
written  after  his  time,  they  are  by  the  Jews  read  with 
respect,  and  by  the  Catholic  church  declared  sacred  and 
canonical.  Also  some  of  the  parts  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  subject  of  discussion  in  the  first  ages,  and 
more  slowly  admitted  to  be  inspired,  which  shows  how 
careful  Christians  were  to  examine  the  claims  of  these 
writings  to  be  God's  Word;  and  these  disputed  portions 
are  also  called  Deutero-canonical ;  yet,  in  settling  the 
Canon,  the  Catholic  church  has  decided  that  they  are, 
like  the  rest,  sacred  and  canonical. 

This  is  seen  in  the  action  of  the  Council  of  Carthage 
in  397,  saying:  "We  receive  these  from  our  Fathers  as 
to  be  read  in  the  church."  In  405,  Innocent  I.  to  Ex- 
uperius,  Bishop  of  Toulouse;  in  494,  Pope  Gela;»ius; 
and  Pope  Eugenius  IV,  in  1440,  in  his  decree  to  the 
Armenians; 'give  the  list  of  sacred  books  as  set  forth 
by  the  Council  of  Trent.  The  Greek  church  agrees 
with  the  Latin  as  to  the  list  of  sacred  and  canonical 
books;  and  with  the  Fathers,  it  was  regarded  as  the 
undisputed  right  of  the  church,  to  decide  what  writings 
are  to  be  esteemed  as  the  inspired  word  of  God,  since 
there  were  so  many  books  in  circulation  claiming  to  be 
gospels  and  Apostolical  writings,  which  were  neither  in- 
spired, nor  true.  St.  Augustine  says:  "I  would  not 
believe  the  Gospel  did  not  the  authority  of  the  church 
move  me  to  do  so."* 

The  decalogue,  as  given  by  God  in  the  ancient  law, 
was  again  in  the  new  dispensation  promulgated  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  while  by  his  advent,  his  life,  and  death,  he 
fulfilled  the  figures  and  promises  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  abolished  the  ceremonial  sacrifices  and  usages,  he 
did  not  destroy  the  testimony,  which  the  ancient  Scrip- 
tures give,  as  to  what  in  man  is  pleasing  or  displeasing 
to  God;  For  his  Apostle  writes:  "All  Scripture,  in. 
spired  of  God  is  profitable  to  teach,  to  reprove,  to  cor- 
rect, to  instruct  in  justice,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be 


I 


*  St.  Aug.  Cont.  Ep.  Maniehaei,  c.  v.  Evangeiio  non  crederem, 
ni9i  me  Ec^-Wise  Catholicae  comraoveret  auctoritas. 


SCRIPTURE    AND   TRADITION.  83 

perfect,  furnished  to  every  good  work."*  What  is  true,  * 
must  be  always  true,  for  as  Cicero  says:  "  Truth  is  the 
daughter  of  time."f  The  truths,  shown  to  men  in  the 
revelation  of  the  Old  Testament,  must  harmonize  with 
those  revealed  in  the  New,  for  the*  gospel  is  the  word 
of  God  from  eternity.  "The  book  of  the  holy  Scrip- 
ture is  one,"  writes  Rupert  the  Abbot,  "and  is  there- 
fore so  culled;  it  is  one  book  because  it  is  written  by 
one  spirit;  it  is  one  treasury  and  one  tabernacle  of  tho 
word  of  God. "| 

The  council  of  Trent  declares  the  faith  on  this  sub- 
ject. It  says :  "  The  Synod,  following  the  examples  of 
the  orthodox  Fathers,  receives  and  venerates  with  an 
equal  affection  of  piety  atfd  reverence,  all  the  books  of 
the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testament — seeing  that  one 
God  is  the  auther  of  both."§ 

It. is  therefore  of  faith  that  the  several  books  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  are  the  inspired  word  of  God, 
and  as  the  Council  pronounces  anathema  on  any  one 
-■who  does  not  receive,  as  sacred  and  canonical,  the 
s'aid  books  entire,  with  all  their  parts,  as  they  have  been 
used  to  be  read  in  the  Catholic  church,  and  as  they  are 
contained  in  the  old  Latin  Vulgate  edition,"  it  is  fair  to 
infer  that  by  calling  them  sacred  "in  all  their  parts," 
it  intends  to  maintain  that  "in  all  their  parts,"  they 
are  the  inspired  word  of  God.  But  the  Council  has 
not  expressly  said  that  "  in  all  their  parts"  they  are  the 
inspired  word  of  God,  but  that  they  are  "sacred  and 
canonical." 

We  present  the  following  considerations  to  show  the 
truth  of  the  Bible,  not  with  the  intention  of  setting 
forth  the  many  arguments  which  might  be  adduced, 
but  in  a  mere  general  way,  following  the  views  present- 
ed in  the  book  of  Argentan,  entitled  "  Grandeurs  de 
Jesus   Christ.'' 


*2  Tim   iii:   1G,  17.     fCic.  Lib.  de  Ofiic.    +In  Apoc.      $Sess.  iv. 


84  SCRlPiURK   AND   TRADITION. 


1st.  —  Of  the  Old   Testament. 

1.  The  Old  Testament  is  anterior  to  all  other  books. 
No  one  has  ever  known  or  written  anything  more  an- 
cient. It  alone  gives  an  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
world,  teaches  us  whence  it  came,  and  who  created  it  as 
it  is.  It  presents  to  us  the  Creator,  in  his  stupendous 
work  of  six  days  or  periods — shows  the  earth's  inhabi- 
tants, and  what  they  did.  We  have  nothing  which  pre- 
cedes this  narrative. 

2.  Moses,  who  wrote  the  first  five  little  books,  known 
as  the  Pentateuch,  was  not  a  #cotemporary  of  all  that 
he  relates,  but  he  was  sufficiently  near  to  the  events,  to 
have  credible  witnesses,  who  themselves  saw  a  part  and 
obtained  the  rest  from  their  fathers  and  ancestors. 
Though  the  period  was  over  two  thousand  years,  the 
chain  of  tradition  is  short,  clear  and  strong. 

Before  the  deluge  the  life  of  man  was  prolonged  for 
eight  or  nine  hundred  years,  and  consequently  children 
lived  so  long  with  their  parents,  as  to  be  able  to  learn 
from  them  correctly  all  they  knew  of  the  traditions  of 
our  race,  especially,  as  they  had  little,  in  the  order  of 
the  sciences  and  arts,  to  occupy  their  attention.  The 
children,  in  their  turn,  becoming  parents  and  living 
long  with  their  children,  even  for  centuries,  could  easily 
teach  them  all  these  great  events.  Thus  only  a  few 
generations  intervened  between  Adam  and  Moses,  who 
could  easily  know  what"  was  generally  known  am(*g  the 
people,  and  in  writing,  would  be  necessarily  able  to  re- 
cord in  his  books  the  facts  as  known  and  believed,  and 
not  mere  fictions  or  fables,  the  falsehood  of  which  every 
one  would  know  a&d  denounce.  His  books  were  re- 
ceived with  veneration,  and  preserved  with  religious 
care,"  because  the  people  recognized  their  correspond- 
ence with  the  traditions  of  the  past$  and  the  facts  of 
their  own  times. 

8.  The  things  related  by  Moses  are  not  private  af- 
fairs, but  of  a  most  public  nature ;  events  of  the  most 
extraordinary  character,  and  in  themselves  seeming  to 


SCRIPI'URE   ASD   TRADITION.  85 

be  almost  incredible,  had  not  all  known  them  to  he  cer- 
tain;  so  that,  had  they  not  occurred  as  stated,  it  would 
be  easy  to  show  the  imposture.  For  how  could  Moses 
devise  a  fable,  that  the  whole  earth  was  submerged  by 
a  deluge,  and  narrate  it  as  true,  no  one  having  any 
knowledge  of  such  a  catastrophe?  How  could  he 
imagine  and  tell  of  the  captivity  of  Egypt ;  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Red  Sea  ;  the  manna  sent  down  from  hea- 
ven; the  passage  through  the  desert,  and  all  the  prodi- 
gies he  has  recorded,  if  he  had  to  invent  such  events, 
since  he  tells  them  to  those  who  ought  already  to  know 
of  them,  and,  if  not  true,  would  know  that  they  were 
false  and  imaginary? 

The  events  did  not  concern  some  few  individuals,  but 
whole  nations  and  peoples,  and  the  truth  of  them  must 
have  been  known  and  admitted,  or  they  must  have  been 
recognised  as  false.  How  could  a  writer,  who  was  him- 
self among  the  people,  and  held  so  high  a  rank,  have 
published  such  extraordinary  things  as  true,  had  they 
been  fabulous  ? 

4.  Then  the  character  of  Moses  and  his  admirable 
qualities  deserve  to  be  considered.  1st.  He  was  a  great 
prophet;  2dly.  He  was  a  very  holy  person;  3rdly.  He 
was  the  intimate  friend  of  God,  and  had  special  com- 
munications with  him. 

He  predicted  wonderful  things,  some  of  which  occur- 
red soon  after,  as  he  had  foretold,  others  at  a  later  pe- 
riod. His  sanctity  was  recognized,  and  the  acts  of  his 
life  were  wonderful;  and  God  made  known  his  will  to 
the  people  through  him.  Such  a  man  could  not  be 
wicked  enough  to  fill  his  writings  with  fictions  and  false- 
hoods. 

5.  Then  also  consider  how  later  writers,  who  have 
followed  him,  and  added  portions  to  the  holy  book, 
have  written  in  the  conviction  of  the  truth  of  iiis  wri- 
tings. They  too  were  prophets,  ami  divinely  inspired, 
and  their  prophecies  in  many  cases  were  fulfilled  while 
they  yet  were  among  the  people.     Their  writings  are 

lime,  containing  grand  and  incomprehensible  things. 


86  SCRIPIUBB   AtfD   TuADITioST. 

and  presented  in  a  manner  above  the  reach  of  the  mere 
genius  of  man. 

They  also  were  holy  men,  they  taught  the  principles 
of  a  holy  life,  and  denounced  the  vices  and  sins  of 
men;  and  most  of  them  exposed  or  laid  down  their 
lives  for  the  glory  of  God.  These  were  the  men  who 
wrote  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  arid  it  is  just 
to  conclude  that  their  writings  must  be  authentic  and 
true. 

6.  The  preservation  and  integrity  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, during  so  many  centuries,  is  itself  miraculous. 

It  always  had  numerous  eiemies  arrayed  against  it. 
It  censures  the  world  and  its  vanities,  menaces  severe 
punishments  against  those  who  live  according  to  the 
maxims  of  the  world,  and  condemns  Paganism  and  its 
hosts  of  imaginary  deities.  The  world  was  devoted  to 
idols  and  superstitions,  and  only  a  little  portion  held 
by  the  people  of  Israel  worshipped  the  one  only  God; 
and  yet  these  writings  wefe  preserved  with  care,  and 
maintained  their  integrity  amid  this  state  of  things  ; 
and  the  Jewish  people  cherished  them  with  the  greatest 
veneration  and  fidelity.  How  could  this  be,  except 
that  the  Israelites  were  convinced  of  their  truth  and 
value,  and  that  God  himself  watched  over  them  as  the 
records  of  his  religion  ? 

7.  Consider  finally  that  this  book  is  "not  the  work  of 
one  age,  but  of  centuries — five  or  six  centuries  passed 
while  it  was  being  composed,  and  from  Moses,  who  com- 
menced it,  to  the  Machabees,  under  whom  it  was  com- 
pleted, nearly  twelve  or  thirteen  centuries  intervened, 
during  which,  a  number  of  persons,  of  different  degrees 
of  intellect  and  condition  of  life,  have  added  their 
parts  to  it,  yet  never  could  have  seen  each  other,  or 
compared  their  intentions  and  designs;  and  moreover, 
they  all  agree  so  perfectly  in  the  truths  which  they 
teach,  that  it  appears  manifestly  it  was  the  Spirit  of 
God  who  guided  them.  These'proofs  and  reasons  would 
seem  suffieient,  without  having  recourse  to  numerous 
others,  to  prove  incontestably  the  truth  of  the  writings 
of  the  Old  Testament. 


I 


SCRIPTURE    AND    TRADITION.  87 


2d — Of  the  New   Testament. 

1.  If  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  con- 
tain the  shadows,  figures,  and  types  of  the  truths  which 
God  promised,  are  true,  those  of  the  New  Testament 
are  no  less  true,  because  they  contain  the  realities  pre- 
figured and  promised  in  the  Old.  The  two  testaments 
have  a  close  connection  with  each  other,  the  one  is  full 
of  promises,  and  the  other  narrates  their  execuion. 
They  are  in  fact  but  one  book,  at  .once  the  most  an- 
cient, venerable,  and  important  in  the  world 

2.  If  the  fact,  that  Moses  was  a  prophet,  and  the 
other  holy  men  who  wrote  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  prophets,  gives  such  a  character  of  truth  to 
their  writings,  how  much  more  firmly  is  the  truth  of 
the  New  Testament  established  by  the  fact,  that  the 
eternal  Son  of  God  madettnan,  with  his  own  lips  dicta- 
ted the  greater  portion  of  it,  especially  of  the  four  gos- 
pels; while  to  those  who  wrote  the  rest,  he  not  only 
gave  instructions  himself,  but  also  visibly  sent,  to  them 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  inspire  them?  Their  sanctity  too  is 
apparent  not  only  from  their  holy  lives,  but  from  their 
many  wonderful  miracles,  and  from  their  having  suf- 
fered death,  in  testimony  of  their  faith.  • 

3.  As  the  witnesses  cotemporary  with  Moses  were  so 
numerous  and  so  able  to  be  well  informed,  as  to  pre- 
clude all  possibility  of  his  undertaking  to  record  fables 
for  tHKhs,  especially  events  so  extraordinary,  that  they 
must  have  passed  as  incredible,  had  not  the  truth  of 
theai  been  publicly  recognised  by  men,  how  much 
more  apparent  is  it  that  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists 
could  not  have  written  untrue  things,  since  what  they 
wrote  wis  so  extraordinary,  that  men  had  never  seen 
the  like  before — such  as  feeding  five  thousand  persons 
with  five  loaves  of  bread,  giving  sight  to  the  blind  from 
their  birth,  raising  the  dead  to  life,  as  in-  the  case  of 
Lazarus,  win.  was  in  the  tomb  tor  four  days,  curing  the 
lame,  and  the  palsied,  aiid  the  lepers,  Lc. '.'  To  write 
and  publish  such  things,  in  the  very  time  and'  place 


88  SCRIPTURE    AND    TRADITION. 

where  they  are  represented  to  have,  occurred,  is  more 
than  any  writers  could  possibly  venture  to  do,  if  the 
events  were  not  true.  The  Jews* were  too  much  inter- 
ested to  confound  them,  to  allow  impostures  so  gross  to 
pass  upon  the  public  unopposed  and  unrebuked.  They 
could  easily  have  confounded  them,  and  they  had  every 
disposition  to  do  so,  were  it  not  that  they  knew  them- 
selves that  the  facts  were  really  true. 

4.  Beside?  the  Apostles  were  not  philosophers  and 
learned  men,  but  simple  and  unlettered,  and  instead  of 
concealing  what  is  bumbling  to  them  or  to  their  mas- 
ter,  they  bring  these  prominently  under  view,  and  yet 
in  their  writings  they  set  forth  almost  unconsciously 
the  most  sublime  things,  matters  far  above  the  reach  of 
the  human  mind,  and  which  have  caused  the  admira- 
tion of  the  most  learned  men  of  all  ages  since.  They 
had  no  education,  and  yet,  they  had  scarcely  abandon- 
ed their  former  humble  occupations,  when  they  at  once 
astonish  the  world  with  a  tfoctrine  so  spiritual  and  so 
perfect,  that  even  the  greatest  philosophers  are  con- 
founded in  contemplating  it ;  and,  in  the  writings  which 
record  it,  arc  forced  to  recognize  a  something  which 
they  discover  nowhere  else,  a  majesty  which  astonishes 
the  mind,  and  a  sanctity  which  affects  the  heart,  even 
when  they  refuse  to  accept  its  lessons. 

5.  And  although  these  Apostles  wore  without  perso- 
nal credit  or  authority  among  their  fellow-men,  the 
whole  power  of  the  heathen  world,  and  even  its  concen- 
trated power  under  tjie  great  emperors  w!k>  governed 
the  world,  succumbed  before  their  teachings,  arM  men 
accepted  from  them  a  new  law,  which  subjected  their 
pride  and  passions,  their  cupidity,  and  love  of  pleas- 
ures, and  all  that  is  dear  to  self-luve  and  self-indulgence 
in  man,  and  caused  them  to  take  up  the  cross  of  self- 
denial  and  voluntary  mortification.  It  was  a  victory. 
achieved  by  the  truth,  which  they  boldly  and  fearlessly 
proclaimed,  and  a  victory,  over  such  a  mass  of  lies  and 
errors  as  made  paganism  dear  to  die  pas-ions  of  men,  is" 
an  indisputable  evidence  that  the  truth,  which  achieved 
it,  came  from  God.      There  is"  no   greater   miracle,  or 


: 


SCRIPTUBB    ASb    TRADITION.  8'< 

manifestation  of  the1   power  of  God,  tkan  this  conver- 
sion of  the  Pagan  world  to  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel. 

6.  But  look  at  the  character  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  the  work  which  it  undertook  aa  the  censor  of  man- 
kind.    Consider   the   numerous   enemies   it  had  to  en- 

•  counter,  and  the  empire  of  authority  it  has  assumed, 
and  always  maintained  over  men,  and  say  if  you  can 
explain  its  power  and  influence  thus  perpetuated,  ex- 
cept by  admitting  that  its  authority  is  that  of  God.  It 
censures  and  denounces  all  abuses,  all  depraved  incli- 
nations, all  meanness,  tricks,  frauds,  cunning  devices — 
in  a  word,  all  the  sins  of  men.  It  speaks  alike  to  great 
and  little — to  kings  and  subjects — to  masters  and  ser- 
vants.     It  corrects  the  faults  of  all. 

It  not  only  condemns  great  crimes,  but  reproves  lit- 
tle faults,  and  not  only  words  and  actions,  but  even 
criminal  thoughts  and  desires.  It  looks  into  the  sccresy 
of  hearts,  and  unfolds  the  plies  of  consciences.  At 
every  point  of  conduct  to  which  the  passions  may  lead 
men  in  search  of  gratification,  it  presents  itself  with  its 
text  of  eternal   truth,  to  menace   God's  anger  and  an 

.  endless  punishment,  as  the  penalty  of  disobedience  to 
its  admonitions.  Its  voice  no  other  can  silence,  and  it 
is  recognized  as  superior  to  any  other  in  the  world, 
which  proves  that  it  represents  the  authority  of  God. 
Heresy  has  tried  to  change  and  corrupt  it,  to  make  it 
suit  its  fond  devices  and  theories  of  pride,  and  has  even 
gone  so  far  a?  to  publish  false  writings  with  its  title,  as 
jLthey  were  genuine  gospels,  but  it  has  still  preserved 
its  purity  and  integrity,  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
truth,  and  come  down  to  us  through  the  vicissitudes  of 
time  and  change,  unchanged  and  uncorrupted,  Avhile 
those  altered  writings,  with  the  errors  they  upheld, 
have  sunk  into  obscurity  and  oblivion. 

7.  The  Old  Testament  demands  the  New,  and  makes 
it  necessary.  God  might  have  dispensed  with  figures 
and  prophecies,  and  given  the  redeemer  to  the  world 
without  them  ;  but  having  given  the  Uld  Testament, 
and  it  being  proved  to  be  his  revelation  promising  the 
saviour  of  men,  as  ".the  desired  of  nations,"  the  simple 


90  SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION. 

narrative  of  -what  occurred  when  God  fulfilled  his  pro- 
mises, and  realized  what  he  had  prefigured,  becomes  a 
necessity;  since  otherwise  the  Old  Testament  would  be 
still  incomplete,  «and  yet  the  time  for  the  fulfillment  as 
indicated  by  itself,  long  since  have  passed.-  The  New 
Testament  contains  the  realities  promised  in  the  Old, 
and  manifests  the  realization  as  having  taken  place  m 
time  to  correspond  with  the  prophecies.  They  thus  mu- 
tually prove  each  other.  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  he 
preached  "the  gospel  of  God  which  he  had  promised 
before  by  his  prophets  in  thejioly  Scriptures."* 

Although  both  Testaments  are  but  one  book, 
and  contain  the  word  of  God,  it  is  a  very  great 
error  to  suppose  that  men  can  know  God's  word  by 
.a  mere  reading  of  the  Scripture,  as  the  Scriptures 
.may  be  understood  either  correctly  or  falsely.  It  is 
evident  that  they  express  God's  word  to  man,  only 
when  understood  as  he  intended.  But  every  reader,  no 
matter  how  high  an  idea  he  has  of  himself,  is  not  qual- 
ified to  understand  the  Scriptures  merely  on  leading,  or 
even  studying  them.  The  Apostles  themselves  needed 
something  more,  as  we  see  in  St.  Luke,  where  Jesus 
Christ  "opened  their  understanding  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scriptures,  "f  Jesus  Christ  is  still 
found  in  his  church,  and  will  still  "  open  the  under- 
standings of  men  to  understand  the  Scriptures,"  if  they 
will  take  his  interpretation  of  them,  given  by  his 
church.  The  Scriptures  are  the  book,  seen  by  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  on  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on 
the  throne,  " a  book  written  within  and  without,  sealed 
with  seven  seals,"  and  "the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,. 
hath  prevailed  to  open  the  book  and  loo?e  the  seven 
seals  thereof."|  St.  Augustine  says :  "  In  these  Scrip- 
tures I  am  ignorant  of  more  than  I  know,'  s  for  the 
profoundness  of  the  Scriptures  is  wonderful.  St,  Pe- 
ter declares  that  in  St.  Paul's  epistles,  "there  are  cer- 
tain things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  the  unlearned 


*  Rom.  i:  1,  2.         t  Luke  xxiv:  45.         J  Apoc.  v:  5.        §  Ej.'isi. 

CXJX- 


SCRIPTURE    AND    TRADITION.  91 

and  unstable  wrest,  as  they  do  also  the  other  Scriptures, 
to  their  own  destruction."*  But  the  wise  will  seek  the 
wisdom  of  the  ancients,  and,  from  the  lives  of  the 
saints,t  and  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  will  learn  the 
signification  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  that  thoy  may  do 
as  Timothy  wai  advised:  "But  continue  thou  in  those 
things  which  thou  hast  learned,  and  which  have  been 
committed  to  thee :  knowing  from  whom  thou  hast 
learned  them."  j  And  if  they  "know  the  Scriptures 
from  their. infancy,"  like  Timothy,  so  much  the  better, 
for  they  '*  can  instruct  to  salvation,"  when  "the  things 
committed"  are  kept  faithfully,  and  we  continue  in  the 
"things  we  have  learned"  from  the  church,  which  was 
commissioned  to  leach  us. 


Tradition. 

Tradition,  in  its  general  meaning,  signifies  all  doc- 
tripe  communicated  by  one  to  another,- whether  by  wri- 
ting or  orally;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  used  by  St.  Paul, 
when  he  says  :  "  Therefore  brethren,  stand  fast,  and 
hold  the  traditions  which  you  have  learned,  whether  by 
word,  or  by  our  epistle. "§ 

In  its  strict  sense,  it  signifies  doctrine  communicated 
orally  by  its  author,  whether  afterwards  reduced  to  wri- 
ting or  not.  Traditions  may  be  divine  or  human,  as  they 
have  Christ  or  the  Holy  Ghost  for  immediate  author, 
or  were  introduced  only  by  the  Apostles  from  their  gene- 
ral authority,  or  by  the  church  after  the  time  of  the 
Apostles. 

When  we  speak  of  tradition  as  a  source  or  fountain 
of  doctrines,  we  mean  by  it  a  collection  of  revealed 
truths,  which,  taught  by  men  inspired  by  God,  are  pre- 
served in  the  memory  of  men,  in  the  principles  of  be- 
lief and  conduct  generally  received,  in  the  permanent 
and  daily  teaching  of  the  ministers  and  chiefs  of  relv 


*  2  Peter  iii:  10.     fVita  Sanrtormn  Iiiterpretatip  Scripttirartim. 

Si   Jurome  Ep.  ad  I*auHu.     \  2  Tiaa  hi:  14.     I  3  The-  ii;  14. 


92  fcCKlPIL.KE    AND    I'KAUiT ION. 

gion,  though  not  expressly  written  in  the  sacred  hooks 
of  Scripture. 

It  is  very  clear,  that  the  men,  whom  £od  inspired, 
could  deliver  revealed  truths  as  well  orally,  as  deliver 
them  in  writing.  It  is  also  certain,  that  revealed  truths 
have  been  orally  delivered  for  over  two  thousand  years 
from  Adam  to  Moses ;  also  from  the  time  of  Moses  to 
that  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  from  the  time  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  our  day.  The  history  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
history  of  the  Church,  prove  this.  We  will  speak  of 
divine  traditions  during  the  period  between  Jesus  Christ 
and  our  time.  In  this  period,  besides  the  Scriptures, 
or  written  word  of  God,  there  have  always  been  in  the 
Church  traditions,  or  a  collection,  or  body  of  revealed 
truth*,  which  wove  orally  taught  b}7  the  Apostles  and 
iirst  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  by  the  writers  of 
the  Christian  Sriptures  expressed  in  them,  but  which 
belonged  to  revelation,  and  were  as  entirely  the  w^>rd 
of  God,  and  source  of  doctrine  as  what  was  expressed 
in  the  Scriptures. 

These  truths  were  taught  by  the  Apostles  -to  the 
churches  which  they  founded,  and  to  the  ministers, 
the  bishops  and  priests,  whom  they  ordained.  As 
they  themselves  had  been  instructed  by  Jesus  Christ, 
eo  they  instructed  the  bishops  whom  they  ordained  ; 
these,  in  their  turn,  instructed  and  ordained  others. 
Thus  the  truths,  orally  taught  by  the  Apostles,  were 
preserved  in  the  church  as  a  sacred  deposit,  which  was 
religiously  transmitted  from  one  to  another,  from  Jesus 
Christ  to  us. 

It  is  of  Faith,  that  there  exist  in  the  church  such 
divine  traditions',  and  that  these,  as  well  those  pertain- 
ing to  faith  as  to  morals,  as  having  been  dictated, 
either  by  Christ's  own  word  of  mouth,  or  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  are  to  be  received  and  venerated  equally. with 
the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 

If  the  truths  come  from  the  same  source  and  have 
the  same  high  origin,  of  course  they  are  entitled  to  the 
same  belief  and  veneration,  They  must  have  the  same 
authority. 


I 


■'  i:  i  PTURfi    AN  D    TB  1DITI0K.  ^:>' 

The  following  texts   are   decisive  upon   this  point  : 
"And  the  things  thou  hast  heard  of  me  by  many  wit- 
s,  the  same  commend  t»  faithful  men,  who  shall 
i  teach  others  also 

•-'i  !;<  i  rethren,  stand  fast  and  hold  the  tradi- 

tions -which  you   have   learned,  whether  by  word   or  by 
■  our  epistle.'  | 

-;  Now  I  praise  you,  brethren,  that  in  all  things  you 
are  mindful  of  me,  and  keep  my  ordina  ; 

delivered  them  to  you. "J 

For  "ordinances''  we  have  in  the  Greek,  parafbs&is 
or  traditions,  in  this  last  text.  In  the  second,  the 
Apostle  places  what  is  delivered  by  "word"  and  what 
by  writing  on  the  same  terms.  And  in  the  first  he  in- 
dicates the  method  of  teaching  orally  "to  faithful  men" 
the  truths  which  he  had  taught,  that  they  should  also 
iX  teach  others,"  as  the  means  proper  for  propagating 
the  doctrines  of  faith. 

Timtthy  no  doubt  followed  these  instructions  of  St. 
Paul,  and  thus  from  hand  to  hand,  age  after  age,  was 
the  deposit  of  doctrines  passed  from  faithful  men  to 
others  instructed  by  them.  In  this  manner  have  the 
doctrines  descended  to  our  times,  for  the  preaching  of 
gospel  was  the  manner  chosen  by  Christ,  and  in  use 
b<  fore  a  word  of  the  New  Testament  was  written.  The 
time  assigned  to  the  composition  of  the  books  of  I 
New  Testament  embraces  a  period  of  about  fifty-seven 
years,  from  the  eighth  to  the  sixty-fifth  year  after  the 
ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  Many  years  more  elapsed 
before  the  collection  of  these  writings  into  one  volume; 
and  near  four  centuries  before  the  church  settled  the 
this  time  tradition  was  the  safe  vehi- 
cle of  doctrine;  and  the  necessary  interpretation  of 
whal  i  forth  in   rtie  inspired  writings  was  the 

teaching   i  '!)   of  the  the  Saviour, 

d,  would  not  have  allowed  a  false  teaching  to 
lie  first  spread  and  believed,  and  then  cause  to  appear 
writings  in" contradiction — a  written  gospel  Contrary  to 

•  "  Tim.  ii     ..         '       Phes.  ii:  14,        J  1  ('or.  xi :  2. 


£i  .'.CRiriURS   AKD    TE.iM.TI    N 

the  preached  jgospel.  St.  John,  in  the  conclusion  of 
mi  gospel,  tells  us  that  all  that  Jesus  Christ  did  v 
not  written,*  and  neither  of  course  was  all  that  he 
taught  his  Apostles  recorded.  Their,  preaching  and 
the  instructions  and  rules,  which  they  gave  to  the 
churches  which  they  founded,  were  necessarily  such  as 
Christ  commissioned  them  to  teach  to  mankind,  since 
he  sent  upon  them,  for  this  purpose,  the  Holy  Gh 
the  Spirit  of  truth.  Their  preaching  or  traditions  were, 
therefore,  to  be  received  with  faith  equal  to  what  .is  due 
to  inspired  writings  coining  afterwards  ;  and  when  these 
writings  ^ere  silent  on  points  which  were  in  their  tradi- 
tions, the  word  of  God  could  only  be  known  from  these, 
last,  and  where  the  writings  spoke  on  the  sime  subjects 
as  their  traditions,  and  the  writings  would  seem  to  bear 
another  meaning  or  interpretation  than  the  one  which 
the  Apostles  expressly  taught,  it  must  be  concluded  that 
the  interpretation  which  is  in  harmony  with  their  tradi- 
tions is  the  one  intended  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  since  lie 
could  not  have  inspired  them  to  preach  one  set  of  doc- 
trines, and  inspired  them  and  other  men  to  write  doc- 
trines  opposite  and  contradictory.     1  say  other  men, 

*Jo!in  >:xi :  25.  And  not  only  was  wli  not  written,  but  even  some 
ot  that  which  was  written,  his  uat  cuius  down  to  us.  For  instance, 
in  St.  Paul's  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthian*  he  says  :  "I  wrote  to 
you  in  an  epist  e  not  to  keep  company  with  fornicators."  l?i  Cor.. 
eh.  v  :  9 ;  and  where  is  this  epistle,  which  tin-  Apostle  wrote  to  the 
Corinthians,  as  he  informs  us  in  what  wejiow  name  his  Jjrst  epis1- 
tie  to  the  Corinthians.,  and  which,  therefore,  w-is  ,  ot  me  rir.-t? 
Again,  in  Col.  iv..  16,  St.  Paul  says:  "And  when  this  epistie  ahull 
have  been  read  with  you.  cause  a!.-o  that  it  be  read  in  tt:^  church 
of  the  Laodiceans;  and  thai  you  re--v'  thai  vekUhit  of  the  Laorfireans,  ' 
An.  I  wiu-re  is  that  epistle  of  the  Laodireans,  to  which.  St.  Paul  htire 
refers  tix;  Colossiansl     Can  readerf  of  the  Bibie  find  it? 

Wliile  I  am  directing  attention  to  what  has  been  lost  to  us  f.otn 
the  New  Testament,  it  m  iy  be  of  interest  to  remind  t'no>e.  who 
place  their  confidence  in  the  written  word  of  Go  i  alone,  as  th*»y 
understand  it  in  their  private  ju  iirmem.  fiat  many  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  are  al.-o  wanr.ua.  Cotzeu.jn  hia  preTace  to  tin 
G  tspels.  e-ti  liat-.-s  the  lo-t  h«o  B      e  at  twenty  in  mi 

St.  Justin  Mirtyr,  in  his  work  against  T   .     hon.  says:  •The 
ma  le  away  with  iqatty  books  i»f  i!ie    Old    re.-tautei.t    that  the  New 
might  not  be«ni  to  agree  with  it."      Here  we  indicate  some  of  these 
lest  books,     la  Numbers  xxi.  14,  we  read:  "  Wherefore  it  is  enidin 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION.  95 

because  St.  Luke  and  St.  Mark  were  not  Apostles. 
Therefore,  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  and  their  suc- 
cessors, or  the  teaching  of  the  church  of  -Jesus  Christ, 
must  always  remain  the  test  for  knowing  the  sense  and 
meaning  of  what  may  be  read  in  the  Scriptures.  Many 
of  the  Apostles  delivered  nothing  in  writing  that  has 
been  preserved  to  the  world.  Even  those  of  them, 
whose  writings  we  posies*,  delivered  many  things  with- 
out writing.  "These  things  also,"  writes  St.  Chrysos- 
tom,  "are  worthy  of  faith.  It  is  the  tradition:  ask  no 
more."*  "If  of  these  and  similar  traditions  you  ask 
for  the  law,"  writes  Tertullian,  "you  will  find  no  scrip- 
tures for  them.  Tradition  will  be  pleaded  to  thee  as 
the  author,  custom  as  the  con  firmer,  and  faith  a*  the 
observer  of  thorn."  f 

ihe  book  of  the  wars  ul  the  Lord/'  But  woe  re  are  we  to  rind  this 
bonk?  Again:  .In  Joshua  x  13,  it  is  asked'  "  Is  not  this  written  in 
the  book  ot  the  jiifct."  or  in  the  Plot,  version,  "in  the  book  of  Jash- 
rr."  Where  is  thi»  book?  In.  1  Kings  x.  U5.  or  Prot.  vert ,  1  Samuel, 
it  is  said:  "-Then  Samuel  told  the  peo|  le  the  manner  of  ihe  King- 
dom, a i>il  wrote  it  in  a  l><  ok,  and  laid  it  before  tVie  Lord."  Tins 
book  is  lost.  Again,  in  .".  Kings,  or  Pro!,  version,  1st  Kings,  it  is 
."aid:  ''Solomon  spoke  threa  thousand  proverbs,  and  his  poems 
(songs)  were  on     thousand  am!  live."  V.  I  :  these  proverbs 

and  tongs?  Again  in  1st  Paralipnmeno'n,  or  Pro!,  vers.  I  Chron. 
xxix.  W,  it  is  ianl  ;  "The  act-  of  11a  \  id,  first  and  la>t.  are  written 
hi  the  books  of  Samuel,  the  seer  and  the  br-t.k  ol  Kmhan,  the 
Prophet,  and  the  hook  of  Gail,  the  seer."     \Yl  -  the  book 

of  Nathan,  and  the  book  of  Gad  •  Again  in  *^d  Paralip.  or  P.  v., 
Chion.  ix.  *9.  it  is  asked,  .-peaking  of  the  aets  of  Solomon  :  ''  Are 
•they  not  written  in  the  words  of  Nathan,  the  Prophet,  and  in  the 
books-  of  Abias  (Abijah),  the  Silonite,  and  in  the  vision  of  Addo, 
(Iddo  )  the  seer.'9  Ihese  pre  lost  books.  Again  in  the  same.  ch. 
X't.  15:  "  Tho  aets  of  Roboanrv,  first  and  last,  are  written  in  the 
honks  of  Semeias  (Shemeiah).  th-3  prophet,  and  of  Addo  (Iddo.)  tbe 
seer,  and  diligently  recorded.'"  But  where  are  these  books?  As;ain 
in  the  same,  xiii.  22:  "And  the  rest  of  the  aets  of  Abia.  and  of  h'.e 
ways  and  works,  are  written  diligently  in  the  book  f>f  Addo.  tbe 
prophet  "  And  in  chapter  xx.  3-1.  ol  the  tame,  we  are  told  that. 
the  acts  of  Josaphat  are  written  •  in  the  words  of  Jehu,  son  of 
Hanaui,  or  in  Prot.  vers,  in  the  bonk  <  f  Jehu,  t-on  of  Hanani  " 
vVhere  is  this  book  to  bo  found  1  These  books  are  no  longer 
a  part  of  the  Bible,  and  he  who  relies  only  on  the  written  word  of 
God  read  and  interpreted  by  himself,  has  only  a  part  of  God's  word. 
Perhaps  if  he  had  some  of  these  lost  books,  he  might  have  to 
change  some  of  his  religious  opinio* 

*  Chrys- in  Ep  8  Psul.     t  Tertuilian  de  Corona- 


96  SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION. 

"But  there  is  also  need  of  tradition,"  says  St;  Epip- 
hanius,  "  for  sill  things  cannot  be  sought  from,  the  Scrip- 
tures. Therefore  have  the  most  holy  Apostles  left  some 
things  in  writing  and  other  things  by  tradition."* 

"Whatever,"   says   St.   Augustine,    "the   univeri 
church  has  held  from  the  beginning,  and  was  not  insti- 
tuted by  councils  but  always   retained,  is  most  justly 
believed  to  have  been  no  otherwise  transmitted  than  by 
apostolic  authority."  f 

ny   fathers,  from   St.    Ignatii  ,  might  be 

cited,  but  these  suffice   in   conjunction   with   the   plain 
ts  from  the  Scriptures  which  we  have  given.    Usage 
established  the   authority  <>f  tradition   even  with  thi 
wlu>  pretend  to  deny  it.  where  it  conflicts  with  their  pe- 
culiar  errors.      Denominations  of    Christians,    whi 
members  admit  infant  baptism,  have  a  difficult  task  to 
prove  it  conclusively  by  the   Scriptures.;   for  though  it 
i*,  in  certain  texts,  insinuated,  and  implicitly  taught, 
it  is  not  said  in  express   terms,  yet    they  have  received 
it  from   the  teaching  and  usage  of  the  church,  on  the 
authority  of  tradition.      All  denominations  have  in 
the  Sunday  as  the  Lord's  day,  instead  of    the  Sabbath 

I  id  commanded,  and  they  cannot  justify  this  chai 
by  the  Scriptures,  but  they  have  received  it  from  the 
Catholic  Church,  on  the  authority  of  tradition.  They 
neglect  "the  washing  of  the  feet,"  commanded  in  the 
Scriptures,  because  the  Catholic  Church,  on  the  au- 
thority of  tradition,  has  not  kept  it  before  men  as  a 
precept  or  institution,  although  the  Catholic  Church, 
by  her  bead  at  Rome,   and,   in  many  otle  .  .  by 

others,  has  it  yearly  observed,  on  Holy  Thursday.  They 
make  no  difficulty  to  eat  blood  or  things  strangled,  al- 
though expressly  forbid  to  do  so  in  the  Scriptures,  be- 
cause the  Catholic  Church,  on  the  authority  of  tr 
tion.  has  declared  that  the  prohibition  was  only  a  rule 
of  discipline,  designed  for  a   |  ar  time  and  cir- 

cumstances, and   not   for  Jill   nations   and   ages   of  the 
Church. 

*Epinh   adr  H<£:   lib    11     Hast.  6"      A  L'c  Bapt    Con   I     ! 


i 


\ 


MPTURE   AND   TRADITION.  ?7 

The  Catholic  church  consistently  declares  that  the 
authority  of  divine  tradition  as  God's  word,  is  the  same 
as  if  the  Scriptures  contained  the  record.  It  is  his 
word  delivered,  and  of  the  same  weight  and  value  a? 
his  word  written.  And  with  as  firm  faith,  she  holds 
and  teaohea  these  points  of  tradition.  But.  what  con- 
sistency is  there  in  people  calling  out  daily  "the  Bible. 
the  whole  Bible,  aud  nothing  but  the  Bible,"  and  then 
believing  and  doing  things  contrary  to  what  is  express- 
ed in  the  Scriptures,  and  for  which  they  can  have  no 
authority  except  Tradition,  which  they  repudiate  and 
condemn  ? 

In  every  society,  and  the  church  is  a  great  society 
made  up  of  all  nations,  there  must  be  traditions  arising 
at  the  very  origin  of  such  society.*  The  only  question,  for 
the  church  and  its  members,  is,  does  such  or  such  tra- 
dition come  unchanged  from  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles? Or  has  it,  in  its  progress,  been  changed  or  al- 
tered.? To  this,  question  reason  answers:  "Whatever 
is  generally  taught  and  practiced  throughout  the  whole 
church,  without  any  one  being  ablo  to  show  that  it 
commenced  at  some  time  later,  must  have  come  from 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  xipostles."  For  considering  man's 
nature,  and  the  nature  of  doctrines  affecting  the  con- 
duct of  men,  it  is  not  possible,  that  the  generality  of 
Christians  dispersed  over  all  the  different  countries  of 
the  earth,  and  separated  from  each  other  by  seas,  by 
languages,  and  customs,  different  in  manners  and  views 
about  every  thing  except  religion,  could  unanimously 
have  fallen  upon  the  same  belief  and  usage  in  religion, 
if  that  doctrine  and  usage  had  not  come  to  them  from 
the  samo  source,  or  from  the  same  master,  who  had  sent 
his  envoys  to  these  different  people,  with  the  same  les- 
sons and  instructions. 

Also  to  the  reason  of  man  it  appears,  that  whatever 
is  universally  believed  qjid  taught  over  the  whole 
church,  without  a  possibility  to  show  that  it  began  at 
any  time  later  than  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  can 
never  be  easily  altered,  changed  or  corrupted,  because 
both  teajChers  and  believers,  take  too  lively  an  interest 
5, 


rflB   HULL    OF   lAIlji. 

in  matters  of  religion,  to  allow  of  such  change  or  alte- 
ration designedly,  and  too  continually  reduce  their  be- 
lief to  daily  practice  to  allow  an  unperccived  change 
to  occur,  not  to  say,  that  it  would  be  impossible  that 
cither  of  such  supposed  alterations  could  ever  be  univer- 
sal over  the  whole  church,  and  no  notice  thereof  appear 
in  history. 

Besides,  such  change  in  faith  aad  usage  would  also 
have  required  an  alteration  of  the  books  and  writings 
of  the  Fathers  and  Doctors  of  preceding  ages  up  to  the 
•lays  of  the  Apostles,  since  for  the  doctrines  of  the 
church,  which  rest  on  tradition,  we  have  the  testimoj 
of  the  Fathers  and  writers  of  every  century  up  to  the 
very  times  of  the  Apostles.  How  impossible  is  sucii  a 
change!  No  better  sign  then  can  any  one  have,  thai: 
a  doctrine  came  from  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 
than  its  being  held  by  the  universal  church  at  all  times, 
without  the  possibility  to  show  that,  at  some*  later  period, 
it  was  introduced.  A  tenet  believed  at  all  times  since 
the  origin  of  Christianity,  and  believed  every  where, 
must  have  been  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  by 
his  Apostles  according  to  his  command. 

The  Holy  Scriptures  and  Tradition  must  therefore  be 
equally  revered  as  the  sacred  fountains  of  the  faith  de- 
livered by  Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF   FAITH — THE    KILL    OP   FAITH. 

St.  Augustine  tells  us,  that  "a  man  learns  from  the 
creed  what  is  to  be  believed,  from  the  Our  Father  what 
is  to  be  hoped  for,  and  from  the  commandments  what  is 
to  be  loved."*  It  is  to  what  is  to  be  believed,  that  I 
am  chiefly  inviting  attention  at  present,  and  hence  I 

*  Enckirid,  eh. 


1 


THE   Bl  LE   OP    FAITH. 

will  leave  the  reader  to  peek  elsewhere  the  teachings  of 
"the  Oar  Father"  and  "the  commandments,"  respect- 
ing the  objects  of  hope  and  charity.  The  creed  is  but 
the  summary  of  the  principal  doctrines  of  faith,  and 
these  are  set  forth  first,  in  the  symbol  called  '-the. 
Apostles'  Creed,"'  and  afterwards,  with  more  develop- 
ment, in  that  of  Nice,  of  Constantinople)  in  the  Atha- 
nasian  Greed,  an  T  Pius  JV.     Bat  the.  creed 

does  not  present  all  that  flows  from  the  fountain  of  di- 
vine faith,  or  all  that  God  has  revealed  and  promised, 
us  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  tradition;  and 
•eriainly  faith  can  be  nothing  less  than  a  belief  of  alt 
that  God  has  said,  as  far  as  ;;   is  known  to  us. 

St.  Augustine  further  remarks,  that  there  are  two 
kinds  of  faith:  "We  speak  now,'' says  he,  "of  that 
faith  which  we  use  when  we  believe  something;  not  of 
that  which  we  give,  when  we  promise  something.  For 
this  also  is  called  faith.  But  it  is  one  thing,  when  we 
he  gave  no  faith  nor  credit  unto  me,  and  another., 
when  we  say,  he  kept  not  faith  with  me.  For  the  one 
is  as  much  as  to  say:  he  did  not  believe  what  I  said  : 
the  other,  he  performed  nut  what  he  said.  By  this 
faith,  whereby  we  believe,  we  are  faithful  unto  God;  by. 
the  other,  whereby  that  is  performed  which  is  promis- 
ed, God  also  is  faithful  unto  us.  For  the  Apostle  so 
says:  "God  is  faithful  wdio  does  not  suffer  you  to  be 

pted  above  what  you  are  able."*  Of  the  faith,  or 
fidelity  of  God,  no  doubt  can  be  entertained;  it  must 
therefore  be  held  that  whenever  in  the  Scriptures,  men- 
tion is  made  of  man's  faith  alone,  and  in  its  own  kind., 
it  should  be  understood  of  that,  whereby  lie  is  faithful 

tod,  or  as  St.  Chrysostom  expresses  it,  of  that  "faith 
by  which  man  gives  credit  unto  God's  sayings  and 
words,"f  For  explaining  the  words:  "Abraham  be- 
lieved God,'  lie  say-  "he  believed  the  sayings  of  God." 
lie  gave  credit  to  (rod's  words.  "What  pertains  to 
faith?"  again  asks  St.  Augustine;  he  answers:  "to 
believe."     "  But  what  is  it  to  believe,  unless  to  con- 

•  ,\  iic .  ;  II. mjt  31,  in  Gen. 


100  THE   RULE   OF    FAITH. 

pent  that  what  is  said  is  true  ?"  Faith,  then,  consider- 
ed in  its  own  kind,  may  exist  alone  and  separate  from 
hope  and  chai'ity.  Wicked  men  may  have  faith,  for 
even  "the  devils  believe  and  tremble,"  lut  they  neither 
hope  nor  love,  says  St.  Augustine.  This  faith  is  the  as- 
senting to  and  the  Ixjlieving  of  what  is  revealed.  Of  this 
faith  the  Apostle  speaks,  when  he  tells  us,  that  "faith 
without  works  is  dead."  It  is  perfect  in  its  kind,  being 
really  believing,  but  it  is  not  a  saving  faith  ;  because  St. 
Paul  declares  :  "  For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circum- 
cision availeth  anything,  nor  uncircuinci.Mon ;  tut  faith 
'  workith  by  chanty."*  From  this  declaration  of  the 
Apostle,  St.  Augustine  deduces  the  following  rule,  that 
when  we  lind  in  the  Scriptures  faith  comnic  tded  for 
justification  or  salvation,  we  should  always  una*  istand  ic 
to  signify  the  faith  which  worketh  by  charity  ;f  "for  the 
Apostle  hath  defined  and  determined  this  to  be  the 
faith  required."  lie  who  believes  the  word  of  God  in  hi* 
mind  and  professes  it  with  his  lips,  but  does  not  keep  it 
in  his  actions,  but  transgresses  its  commands,  will  not 
be  saved.  His  faith  is  true  and  perfect  for  believing, 
but  not  perfect  for  saving,  for  it  is  one  thing  to  have 
the  true  faith  in  assent  and  profession,  and  another  to 
have  it  in  heart  and  affection,  and  with  obedience  and 
other  necessary  virtues.  Faith  alone  may  then  exist, 
and  does  erdst  in  wicked  pc-rsons  and  in  devils  also,  but 
will  not  avail  without  other  things.':  "Without  which," 
says  St.  Augustine,  "it  can- be,  bui  cannot  profit. "% 
Yet  this  faith,  which  has  its  own  natural  and  peculiar 
property  of  being  an  assent  and  belief  of  the  mind  to 
God  revealing,  though  not  sufficient  of  itself  and  when 
alone,  is  still  necessary.  We  must  give  credit  to  God, 
and  believe  what  lie  says,  Otherwise  we  impeach  the  ve- 
racity of  God;  and  we  cann"t  do  this  without  the  great- 
impiety,  even  on  the  slightest  points  of  'what  he  says, 
for  his  veracity  is,  in  all  things,  in  little  as  well  as  great. 


*  Gal.  v  :  6.     ■    tAu^.  T)e  fide  ct  Oper.  c.  14.      De  Spirit,  et  lit. 
eap  32.         |  St.  Au>.'.  dc  Txiftitale  lib,  15,  cap.  18,  e*  hi  EazbirxlT 


I 


THE   RULE   OF   FAITH.  101 

unimpeachable  and  unquestionable.  However,  to  know 
what  is  said  by  God,  we  must  understand  his  words 
correctly.  What  is  said  by  God,  or  his  word,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  found  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  in  tra- 
dition ;  but  these  are  both  without  life  and  animation, 
and  on  account  of  this,  cannot  tell  us  when  we  under- 
stand correctly  what  they  contain  as  God's  sayings  or  rev- 
elation, and,  consequently,  numerous  disputes  and  con- 
troversies arise  among  men,  about  the  meaning  of  differ- 
ent passages  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  about  the  fact 
whether  Mich  a  teaching  or  usajrc  belongs  to  tradition 
from  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  To  explain  difficulties, 
and  to  settle  disputes,  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  living 
teacher,  who  is  able  to  say  when  the  word  of  God  is 
understood  in  its  true  sense,  and  what  traditions  arc 
of  divine  authority.  God  has  provided  this  teacher 
and  interpreter  to  settle  all  controversies  in  religion, 
and  interpret  his  word  with  unerring  authority,  for  ic 
has  been  always  held  as  certain,  and  is  a  tenet  of  Cath- 
olic faith,  as  declared  by  the  council  of  Trent,  that  it 
belongs  to  the  church  "to  judge  of  the  true  sense  and 
interpretation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"*  in  matters  of 
faith  and  morals  pertaining  to  the  edification  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine.  For  rule  of  faith,  therefore,  besides 
Scripture  and  tradition,  we  need  the  church  to  propose, 
declare,  and  decide  what  are  the  t«uths  which  we  are 
to  assent  to  and  believe  on  the  word  of  God,  and  be- 
cause of  his  supr^e  authority,  This  is  summed  up  in 
the  following  rule^uAll  that,  and  only  that,  is  of  Ca- 
tholic faith,  which  God  has  revealed,  and  the  church 
proposes  to  the  belief  of  all."t  That  a  doctrine  should 
be  of  Catholic  faith,  first,  it  must  be  revealed  by  God  ; 
and  secondly,  it  must  be  proposed  by  the  church. 
Apostles  had  the  commission  to  teach  to  all  nations 
revealed  truths  of  religion  ;  their  successors  in  the  sai 
ministry,  or  the  church  of  Christ  teaching,  received  au- 
thority to  fulfill  the   same   commission,   and  with  the 


*  Sess.  IV.  Decree  on  the  use  of  the  Sacred  Buokf.         f  Sep  Ye- 
Dii  de  Resula,  Fidei  CatlxoLieae, 


102  THE   RULE    01     1AII2I. 

promise  of  aid  from  CliriBt  to  the  end  ui'  the  world', 
and  of  aid  from  the  Divine  Spirit  to  suggest  all  truth 
to  them,  they  were  to  continue  to  teach  until  all  should 
have  the  opportunity  to  receive  the  one  faith,  which, 
says  St.  Paul,  "cometh  by  hearing'"*  those  'who  are 
sent  to  preach  it.  He  that  refuses  to  credit  this  teach- 
ing, or  "who  believeth  not,  shall  be  condemned. "f 

Although  supernatural,  infused  faith  he  one,  as  it  is 
a,  habit  in  the  soul,  faith  is  by  theologians  represented 
as  twofold,  yet  both  of  them  equally  divine/and  termed 
Catholic  faith  and  thco!<  aith.     They  define  di- 

vine theological  faith,  to  be  that,  by  which  we  believe 
God  revealing  the  n  and  truths  of  the  Chris- 

tian religion;  and  divine  Catholic  faith,  that  teaching 
which  proposes  to  the  universal  church  the  things  that 
ire  to  be  believed  by  all.  Theological  faith  contains  all 
the  truths  revealed  by  God,  whether  in  his  written  or 
unwritten  word;  but  for  Catholic  faith,  the  public  prop- 
osition ofi  the  teaching  church  is  necessary.  A  person, 
consequently,  might  before  Cod  be  guilty  of  a  heresy, 
in  culpably  denying  or  rejecting  something  by  him 
revealed,  and  belonging  to  theological  faith,  without 
subjecting  himself  to  the  pains  or  punishments  din 

v  the  church,  as  he  did  not  come   in  conflict  with 
what  she  taught  by  express  proposition. 

Many  articles  of  faith,  formerly  found  in  theological 
faith,  hare  become  of  Catholic  faith  in  the  course  of 
time,  by  definitions  made  by  the  ch^bh  ;  while,  other  . 
equally  of  divine  faithv  are  believed  in  the  church,  and 
arc  not  yet  defined  by  express  proposition. 

The  church  does  not  make  the  faith,  but  cxprc 
declares  what  it  is,  when  the  utility  of  the  faithful  and 
propriety  of  times  and  circumstances,  require  her  to 
speak,  as  she  does  in  her  (Ecumenical  Councils,  or 
through  her  head,  with  the  agreement  of  the  bishops 
dispersed  over  the  world,.  When  the  Scriptures  are  ob- 
scure, her  interpretation  is  to  be  received  as  the  genuine 

*  Bom.  x:  17.        fJM 


' 


OF    GRACE.  103 

sense  thereof.  Her  public  teaching  always  is  in  har- 
mony  with  the  Scriptures.  If  she  has  usages,  which 
she  declares  to  be  apostolical  tradition.-,  these  are  to  1"' 
held  as  harmonious  with  what  is  taught  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. Every  doctrine  decided  and  proposed  by  her,  is 
to  be  held  as  a  Catholic  truth,  for  her  decision  is  infal- 
lible in  matters  of  faith  and  morals. 

By  this  rule,  it  can  be  known  what  arc  those  here 
and  sects,  which   the  Scriptures  declare  to  us  will  ex- 
clude their  followers  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

And  though  u faith  comcth  by  hearing,"  yet  the 
grace  of  God  precedes  its  entrance  into  the  soul  ;  it  is 
also  itself  a  grace,  but  when  it  is  alone,  in  its  kind  and 
nature  as  mere  belief  or  assent,  it  is  not  a  saving  faith, 
but  may  become  so,  if  working  by  charity,  there  is  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  of  Christ,  for  the  remission  of 
in  his  sacraments.  For  though  faith  be  a  gift  of  God, 
it  requires  the  co-operation  of  the  will  of  man  for  sal- 
vation. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

CONCERNING  GRACE — ITS  NATURE — ITS  DIVISIONS — 
ITS  EFFECTS — I-'IT.ST  EFFECT,  JUSTIFIC  LTION — SEC- 
OND  EFFECT,  THE  MERIT  OF  GOOD  WORKS — PREDES- 
TINATION— THE   CONDEMNED     PROPOSITIONS    OF    JAN- 

SENIUS. 

As  some  one  has  remarked,  "  the  Christian  religion 
is  an  immense  grace."  St.  John  the  Apostle  ■declares 
that:  the  Son  of  God  was  made  man,  and  "dwelt 
amongst  us  full  of  grace  and  truth."  His  church  and 
all  his  institutions  are  full  of  grace.  "What  arewe  to 
understand  by  this  term  [/race?  It  expresses  Hie  gifts 
which  God  gratuitously  confers  upon  man, especially  in 
the  order  of  salvation,  and  may  be  defined :    A  super- 


10  i  OF  GRACE. 

natural  and  gratuitous  gift,  from  the  pure  goodness  of 
God,  in  view  of  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christj  as  the  means 
to  enable  men  to  obtain  eternal  life.  It  is  supern 
ralt  because  coming  from  God,  its  influence  is  to  en 
man  to  attain  a  supernatural  end.  the  vision  and  enjoy- 
ment of  God;  and  gratuitous,  because  God  Was  not 
obliged  to  create  man  for  a  supernatural  end-,  nor  to 
elevate  him  to  ■>  supernatural  end  after  be  bad  fallen; 
and  because  it  is  a  pure  mercy  of  God  that  Tie  restores 
man  from  bis  fallen  condition,  and  invites  him  to  seek 
the  vision  and  po  >n  <      llii    *elf,  the  Infinite  Good, 

and  offers  <<»  make  bim  partaker  of  the  glory  of  heaven: 
Since   the  fall  of  Adam,  gra<  -   from  God  to) 

man    only  in  view    of  THE    MERITS    OF    JESU8    CHR] 

ttu:  Redeemer,  who  purchased  it  by  making  himself  a 
victim  of  propitiation  for  all  the  human  race.  Towards 
attaining  everlasting  happiness,  men  can  du  nothing 
without  tiic  grace  of  God,  although  their  natural  forces 
are  only  impaired,  and  not  entirely  ruined  by  the  fall 
of  Adam. 

Grace  is  divided  into  habitual  and  actual  grace.  The 
first,  which  is  also  culled  sanctifying  grace,  is  a  quality, 
which  in  a  fixed  and'permanent  manner,  abides  in  the 
soul,  purifies  it  from  sin,  and  renders  it  agreeable  to 
God  and  worthy  of  the  happiness  Of  heaven.*  It  re- 
mains in  the  soul  as  long  as  the  Boul  perseveres  in  jus- 
tice, but  it  is  lost'  by  mortal  sin.  The  second,  or  actual 
grace,  may  be   either  external  or  internal.     Exterior 


*  It  is  of  fuiih  that  tanclifying  grace  which  justifies  exists;  it  is 
also  of  faith  that  it  is  mktrtnt  in  the  loul,  and  not  the  mere  favour  of 
God  and  extrinsic,  hut  theologians  say  that  it  is  not  of  Catholic 
faith,  that  it  is  in  the  soul  in  the  form  of  a  hnhit,  or  habitual,  be- 
cause  neither  the  Council  of  Trent  nor  any  other  general  eon  noil 
has  defined  it  to  be  n  habit.  Yet  it  is  the  common  opinion  of  the- 
ans  that  this  justice  or  sanctity  is  a  permanent  quality  or  habit 
in  the  soul.     Vasquez    says :    '-From   the  I      nl    it  is 

collected  with  manifest  reason,  that  infants  and  adults,  who  obtain 
the  i't  -  by  virtue  of  thi  't,  are  jusiifie  I 

by  a  habit,  and  a  permanent  quality,  and  therefore  that  this  opinion 
b    that   it    cannot    be   denied  without   er- 
ror. " — Ditputali 


\ 


OF    GRACE. 

grace  consists  in  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  Hermans, 

exhortations,  counsels,  good  examples,  and  the  like, 
which  incline  the  soul  to  good.  Interior  grace,  consid- 
ered as  actual,  is  the  act  of  God  interiorly  enlighten- 
ing our  understanding  and  fortifying  our  will,  and  thus 
is  either  grace"  of  the  understanding,  or  grace  of  the 
will:  This  grace  may  be  either  preventive,  concomi- 
tant, or  subsequent,  according  as  it  induces  us  to  Luow 
and  will  good,  or  aids  us  while  Ave  do  so,  or  follows  us 
to  make  us  persevere  in  willing  and  doing  good. 

Grace  may  he  also  cither  sufficient  or  efficacious.  It 
is  sufficient,  when  it  gives  us  the  power  to  do  good,  al- 
though it  is  not  followed  by  its  effect.  And  it  is  effica- 
cious, when  it  is  followed  by  its  effect,  or  where  with  it 
we  do  what  God  wishes  us  to  do. 

Men  can  resist  grace,  and  when  they  do  resist  it,  and 
it  does  not  produce  its  effects,  such  grace  theologians 
term  sufficient,  to  distinguish  it  from  grace  which  is  not. 
resisted,  but  corresponded  with,  and  which,  producing 
its  effect,  is  termed  efficacious.  Hut  it  is  a  doctrine  of 
faith,  that  although  efficacious  grace  infallibly  produce 
iis  effects,  it  does  so  without  reducing  the 'free  will  of 
man  under  any  necessity,  hut  leaves  it  truly  free,  and 
able  to  resist  the  influence  of  grace. 

Theologians  distinguish  grace  in  general  into  two 
sorts,  one  of  which  they  term  grace  given  gratis,  gratis 
data,  and  the  other  grace  making  agreeable,  or  gratum 
faciens  :  for  although  all  grace  is  a  gratuitous  gift,  they 
specially  term  that  grace  gratis  data,  which  God  gives 
to  a  person  not  precisely  to  sanctify  him,  but  to  convert 
and  sanctify  other  men,  such  as  the  gift  of  miracles. 

The  second  sort,  or  grace  gratum  faciens,  is  also  a  gra- 
tuitous gift  of  (rod,  but  its  object  is  to  render  the  person 
to  whom  it  is  given  holy  and  agreeable  to  God.  To  this 
kind  of  grace,  our  attention  is  now  to  be  restricted. 

It  is  an  article  of  faith  that  actual  interior  grace  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  salvation;  for  the  commence- 
ment, the  increase,  and  the  perfection  of  faith;  for  the 
beginning  and  completion  of  good  works;  for  the  com- 
mencement and  consummation  of  our  salvation.       ^ 


IOG  OF   CRACE. 

"  Without  mo  you  can  do  nothing,"*  Jesus  Christ  lias 
Baid  in  the  gospel,  and  St.  Paul  speaks  thus  :  "  not  that 
we  are  sufficient  to  think  anything  of  ourselv* 
ourselves  ;  but  our  sufficiency  is  from  God.Y'  Again: 
"  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  who  hath 
begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perfect  it  unto  the  day 
of  Jesus  Christ.'*;};  Also:  "For  by  grace  you  arc 
1  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  for  it 
is  the  gift  of  Gfod."%  "  Pot  unto  you  it  is  given  for 
Christ,  not  only  to  believe  in  him,  but  also  to  suffer  for 
him/'|| 

Grace  is  therefore  necessary  for  all  that  relates  te 
ration,  an*!   in    all   respects   it  it  gratuitous;  men 
"  being  justified  fi  we  of  Jesus  Christ. 

\\t  we  are  to  keep  in  mind,  that  the  great 
for  as,  "eternal  life.*"  is  promised  as  a  recompense  for 
our  -_:<»<»«  1  use  of  other  graces,  and  therefore  men  hav- 
ing grace,  nmy  merit  other  graces.  The  sense  in  which 
we  must  understand  that  grace  is  gratuitous  is,  that  it 
is  a  free  gift  of  God,  ami  can  never  be  merited  by  the 
natural  e  id  natural  dispositions  of  man,  though 

when  man  iis  moved  by  God,  and  assisted  by  his  gr<x  •. 
ponding  with  ,  and  receive 

other-gra  .  •     ..       mpensing  good  wo 

in  man,  is  always  crowning  his  OWI 

it  is  of  faith,  that  actions,  performed  by  a  man 
before  justification,  are  not  all  bad  actions.     Nor  are 
all  the  actions   of  sinners  criminal  in  the  eyes  of  God, 
since  the  sinner,  before  being  forgiven  and  justified,  a 
under  t/n-  influence  of  gr  actions  which  had  to 

his  conversion  and  return  to  God,  and  to  this  conver- 
sion he  is  exhorted  by  God  in  the  Scriptures,  and  also 
by  his  church.  Further,  infidels  may  perform  act. 
that  are  not  sin-\  since  that  negative  infidelity,  which 
arises  from  never  having  heard  of  the  revelation  of 
God,  is  excused  from  guilt  be<  f  invincible  igno- 

rance, and  men  may,  in  a  supposed  moral  and  natural 

John  w  :  -1.       t  2  Cor.  iii:  5.        %  Philip,  i  .  0.       \  Eph.  ii  :  S. 


1 


of  a&ACX.  107 

order,  if  such  order  ever  exists,  use  their  free  will  to  do 
certain  good  actions,  such  as  to  resist  some  less  violent 
temptations,  by  their  natural  forces.  This  we  can  con- 
clude from  the  fact  that  the  church  has  condemned  tin- 
following  propositions  :  "Free  will,  without  the  aid  of 
grace,  can  only  be  able  to  sin."*  And  this  other  : 
"The  sinner,  without  the  grace  of  the  liberator,  is  not 
free  except  for  cvil."f  But  even  assisted  by  the  ordi- 
nary graces  of  God,  the  just  man,  cannot  without  a 
special  privilege,  such  as  the  church  holds  was  accord- 
ed to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  mother  of  God,  avoid  all  sins, 
oven  venial  sins,  during  his  whole  life,  though  he  may 
be  able,  with  ordinary  graces,  to  avoid  all  mortal  t 
since  lie  is  able,  with  graces  that  will  not  be  wanting 
to  him,  to  observe  all  the  commandments  of  God.  Yet 
final  perseverance,  or  death  in  a  s'tatc  of  grace,  is  ;i 
special  gift  of  God.  and  no  man  can  be  assured  of  this 
without  he  has  received  a  special  revelation  from  G 
giving  him  this  certitude,  "lie  that  perseveres  to  the 
end,  he  shall  be  saved."!  says  the  .Saviour,  and  no  one 
ran  be  certain  that  he  will  persevere;  but  the  just,  who 
strive  to  live  well,  may  entertain  the  firm  hope  of  this. 
since  God,  if  we  are  not  wanting  to  his  graces,  will  not 
on  bis  part  fail  "to  perfect  in  us  the  work  which  he 
has  commenced,'^  "operating  in  us  both  to  will  and  to 
accomplish.'! 

It  is  a  doctrine  of  faith,  that  "God  wishes  all  men 
to  be  saved  and  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, ^! 
and  therefore  God  gives  to  all  men  the  means  necessa- 
ry for  salvation,  lie  consequently  accords  to  all  the 
graces  necessary  and  sufficient  for  the  observance  of 
his  commandments,  lie  gives  his  graces  even  to  sin- 
ners, and  does  not  abandon  pagans  and  those  out  of  his 
church,  but  gives  them  the  necessary  means  of  salva- 
tion. Yet  it  is  certain,  that  he  is  the  absolute  master 
of  his  gifts,  and  to  some  gives  his  graces  more  abund- 


*  Condemned  by  Tins  V.  Greg.  xiii.  Urban  viii. 

•j  Cohstit,  Unigenitus  of  Clemeni  XL  prop,  xxxviii. 

|  Math,  x  :  22.     5  Philip,  i:  6.     ||  Philip.  ii:  13.     T2  Tun.  ii:  1. 


108  OF   GRACE. 

antly  than  to  others.  As  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  tells 
us:  "To  everyone  is  given  grace  according  to  the 
measure  of  the  giving  of  Christ."*  It  is  through 
Jesus  Christ,  our  only  mediator,  that  grace  comes  to  us 
from  God.  Jesus  Christ  died  for  all  men,  and  wishes 
all  to  be  saved,  but  the  means  of  salvation  are  gifts  of 
his  goodness  and  love,  nnd,  according  tOghis  own  i 
counsels,  he  distributes  them  as  he  pleases.  "Friend, 
is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  1  will  ?"f  In  the 
history  of  the  church,  among  it.  members  at  all  til 
is  seen  the  ty  of  gra  al  w  the 

difference  in  the  manner  in  which  the  graces 

of  God  are  received  and  used. 

Of  i  — Justification — G»od  Works. 

The  chief  effects  of  grace  are  justification  an  I  tin- 
merit  of  good  works.  Justification  is  a  supernatural 
gift  of  God,  which  causes  a  man  to  pass  from  a  ,-tateof 

into  a  state  of  grace,  and  renders  him  agreeabh 
God.     As  regards  adults,  to  obtain  the  grace  of  ju.-tili- 
on,  they  are  required  to  ;  tain  dispositions, 

namely:  Faith,  by  which  a  p«  rson  believes  and  holds  as 
hue  all  that  has  been  rerealed,  and,  in  particular,  that 
the  Binner  is  justified  by  the  grace  and  merits  of  Jesus 
Chri  i  of  the -divine  justice ;  hope  in  the  mercy 

of  God;  a  more  or  less  explicit  commencement  of  love 

Grod  as  the  source  of  all  justice;  hatred  and  de 
tation  of  sin,  with  the  desire  to  receive  the  sacrament 
of  baptism,  and  it?  actual  reception,  if  possible,  to  lead 
a  new  life,  and  observe  th<  idments  of  God. 

Faith  is  tlic  first  necessary  disposition,  being,  as  the 
<  iouncil  of  Trent  "  the  commencement  of  man's 

salvation,  the  foundation  and  root  of  all  justification." 
For  ''without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God,  and 
to  be  admitted  among  the  number  of  his  children."! 

This  faith  does  not  consist  in  a  firm   belief  that  our 


u.  ax. :  io.  ucii  ol  Trent 

\i.  ch.  vi. 


OF   BRACE.  109 

sins  arc  forgiven,  nor  in  a  simple  Confidence  in  the  di- 
vine rnercj,  but  it  is  a  firm  belief  in  the  word  of  God, 
of  all  the  truths  which  he  has  revealed  1"  his  chtirch, 
and  teaches  by  his  church,  and  a  belief  in  '  otn- 

Not  that  all  these  truths  must  be  believi 
it!?/,  though  some  of  them  must.  For  instanci .  an  adult 
could  not  be  saved,  if  he  did  not,  in  an  explicit  man- 
ner, believe  in  God,  in  his  providence,  in  the  existence 
of  another  life,  in  which  each  person  will  receive  ac- 
cording to  his  works. 

An  explicit  faith  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Trinity  and 
the  Incarnation  is  also  necessary,  at  least  by  a  moral 
necessity  and  of  precept,  for  all  who  cannot  plead  an 
invincible  ignorance  of  these  mysteries. 

But  fhith  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  a  man  ;  as 
St.  James  tells  us:  "by  works  a  man  is  justified:  and 
not  by  faith  only."*  "What  shall  it  profit,  my  breth- 
ren, if  a  man  say  he  hath  faith,  but  hath  not  works? 
Shall  faith  be  able  to  save  him?"  "Faith  without 
works  is  dead."f 

Justification  is  not  a  mere  imputation  of  the  justice 
of  Christ,  nor  a  mere  remission  of  sins,  but  a  sanctifica- 
tion  and  renewal  of  the  interior  man,  through  the  vol- 
untary reception  of  grace  and  of  the  gifts,  whereby 
man,  of  unjust  becomes  just,  and  of  an  enemy  a  friend, 
that  so  he  may  be  an  heir  according  to  hope  of  life 
everlasting." 

"Of  thjs  justification  the  causes  arc  these:  the  final 
cause  indeed  is  the  glory  of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  life  everlasting ;  while  the  efficient  cause  is  a  mer- 
ciful God  who  Washes  and  sanctifies  gratuitously,  sign- 
ing and  anointing  with  the  Jloh/  Spirit  of  promise,  who 
is  the  pledge  of  our  inheritance;  but  the  meritorious 
cause  is  His  most  beloved  only-begotten,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who,  when  we  were  enemies,  for  the  ex- 
ceeding charity  tehcreivith  he  loved  lis,  merited  justili- 
'  cation  by  His  most  Holy  Passion  on  the  wood  of  the 
cross,  and  mado  satisfaction  for  us  unto  God  the  Father; 

•  St.  James  it:  24.        flbid.chap.it:  11   17   - 


110  Or   GRADE. 

the  instrumental  cause  is  the  sacrament  of  baptism, 
which  is  the  sacrament  of  faith,  without  which  (faith)  no 
man  can  be  justified;  lastly,  the  alone  formal  cause  is 
the  justice  of  God,  not  that  whereby  He  himself  is  just, 
but  that  whereby  He  maketh  us  just, that,  to  wit:  with 
which  we  being  endowed  by  Him  are  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  our  mind,  and  we  arc  not  only  reputed,  but 
are  truly  called,  and  are,  just,  receiving  justice  within  us, 
each  one  according  to  his  own  measure,  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  distrihutes  to  ever)/  one  as  Jle  wills,  and  accord- 
ing  tOAach  one's  proper  disposition  and  co-operation/'* 

!t  ia  of  faith,  therefore,  thai  this  justice  is  inherent 
in  the  justified,  and  that  "man,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
in  whom  he  is  ingrafted,  receives,  in  the  said  justifica- 
tion, together  with  the  remission  of  sins,  all  these  (gifts) 
infused  at  once,  faith,  hope  and  charity. "f 

This  is  the  doctrine  of  faith,  in  the  justification  of 
adults  who  have  never  received  baptism.  "  For  the  jus- 
tification of  those  who  have,  after  baptism,  fallen  by 
sin,  and  who  may  again  be  justified  by  the  merits  (if 
Christ  through  the  Bacrament  of  Penajice  actually  re- 
ceived or  truly  desired,  besides  cessation  from  sins,  and 
a  detestation  thereof,  there  must  be  also  sacramental 
confession  and  sacerdotal  absolution;  and  likewise  sat- 
isfaction by  fasts,  alms,  prayers,  and  other  pious  exer- 
cises of  a  spiritual  life;  not  for  the  eternal  punishment, 
winch  is  forgiven  in  the  sacrament,  or  by  the  desire  <,[' 
the  sacrament,  but  for  the  temporal  punishment,  which 
is  not  always  remitted  in  thi.s  sacrament  as  it  is  in  bap- 
tism,"! since  the  ingratitude  of  the  relapsing  sinner  is 
greater  than  before  his  renewal  by  baptism.  Justi  ( 
tion,  as  taught  by  the  church  consists  therefore,  in  I 
tifying  grace  which  purifies  us,  and  makes  us  agreeable 
to  God;  in  the  justice  of  God,  who  himself  justifies 
us  by  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ ;  in  charity,  which  ef- 
faces sins,  and  establishes  us  in  the  friendship  of  God  ; 
in  the  communication  oi'flie  Holy  Grhost,  who  rem: 


uncil  of  Ti  VI,  di.  \ii.  "f"  Ibid..  J  Council  of 

Trent,  Sess.  \  J ,  cu.  xiv. 


OF   GRACE.  11  1 

in  as  and  makes  us  dwell  in  him  in  onion  with  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Hon  ;  in  the  sanctity,  which,  in  regenerat- 
ing us  and  renewing  us  interiorly,  makes  us  heirs  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  "  Be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your 
mind,  and  put  on.  the  new  man,  who,  according  to  God, 
is  created  injustice  and  holiness  of  truth."* 

Although  justification  docs  not  merely  cover  sins  With 
the  justice  of  Christ  and  sanctifying  grace,  so  that  they 
arc  not  imputed,  but  it  really  removes,  blots  out  our 
sins,  and  takes  them  away,  while  grace  and  charity  arc 
diffused  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  yet  a  man,  by 
sinning  again,  m  iy  lose  his  justification,  because  grace 
is  lost,  by  mortal  sin.  So  also  a.  man  may  increase  in 
holiness,  and  become  still  more  justified.  The  gifts  of 
faith,  hope,  and  charity,  may  be  augmented  in  us,  as 
the  church  teaches  us  to  solicit  from  God  in  our  prayers. 

Christians,  cannot,  without  revelation  from  God,  be 
certain  that  they  are  in  a  state  of  grace,  for  "man 
knoweth  not  whether  he  be  worthy  of  love  or.  hatred;"  j 
but  they  can  confide  in  God's  mercy,  in  the  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  efficacy  of  his  sacraments,  and 
"with  fear  and  trembling  work  out  their  salvation.,'^ 

Of  Good   Works. 

The  second  principal  effect  of  grace  is  the  merit  of 
good  works.  By  a  meritorious  action,  we  mean  one 
worthy  of  recompense,  Theologians  distinguish  two 
kiiejs  of  merits,  the  first,  that  of  condignity,  or  m\ 
tun\  de  condigno;  and  the  second,  that  pfsuitablen 
or  congruity,  or  meritum  de  congruo.  As  to  the  merit 
of  condignity,  because  foundjed  on  a  promise  on  the 
pan  of  God,  its  reward  is  a  matter  of  justice,  God 
having  become  "our  debtor  hy  his  promise,"  as  St.  Au- 
gustine expresses  it.  But  as  there  is  no  promise  to  re- 
ward the  second  sort  of  merit,  it  is  one  that  from  the 
goodness   and  mercy  of    God   expects   a   recompense, 


•  Eph.  iv :  S3,  24.         |- Ecolesiastes  ix:   I.       '{Philip,  ii: 


112  OF    GRACE. 

•which  is  meet  and  congruous,  a  reward  entirely  gratu- 
itous. 

The  following  canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent  show 
what  is  of  Catholic  faith  on  this  point : 

"If  any  one  saith,  that  "the  good  works  of  one  that 
is  justified,  are  in  such  manner  the  gifts  of  God,  as 
that  they  are  not  also  the  good  merits  of  him  that  is 
justified;  or  that  the  said  justified,  by  the  good  works 
which  he  performs  through  the  grace. of  God  and  the 
merit  of  J':sus  Christ,  "whose  living  member  he  is,  does 
not  truly  merit  increase  of  grace,  eternal  life,  and  the 
attainment  of  that  eternal  life, — if  so  be,  however,  that 
lie  depart  in  grace, — and  also  an  increase  of  glory ; 
let  him  be  anathema."     iSt'SS.  vi.,  Can.  xxxii. 

'k  if  any  one  saith,  that  the  just  ought  not  for  their 
good  works  done  in  God,  to  expect  and  hope  for  eter- 
nal recompense  from  Cod,  through  His  mercy  and  the 
merit  of  Jesus  Christ — if  so  be,  that  they  persevere  to 
the  end  in  well  doing,  and  in  keeping  the  divine  com- 
mandments; let  him  be  anathema."  Mess,  vi.,  Can. 
xxvi. 

There  is  nothing  herein  expressly  defined  about  merit 
de  condigno  and  de  congruo,  but  as  Bellarmine  says : 
"The  common  opinion  of  theologians  admits  simply 
merit  de  condigno."  He  says,  they  introduce  three 
questions  on  the  subject:  1st.  Is  the  merit  of  the  just 
to  be  said  de  condigno  or  de  congruo  ?  2d.  Is  it  de 
condigno  by  reason  only  of  God's  promise,  or  also  by 
reason  of  the  works  ?  od.  Does  God  reward  the  just 
above  the  condign,  and  punish  the  wicked  less  than  the 
condign  ?  As  to  the  first,  all  have  to  admit  as  of  faith 
that  the  works  of  the  just  are  meritorious  of  eternal 
life  from  the  grace  of  God,  but  differ  whether  this  be 
de  condigno  or  de  congruo.  As  to  the  second,  some 
think  that  because  of  the  works,  even  in  absence  of 
God's  promise,  there*. would  exist  merit  de  condigno; 
others  deny  this,  and,  admitting  that  the  works  of  the 
just- are  truly  and  properly  good,  say  they  can  only 
have* proportion  with  the  end,  and  merit  justly  or  con- 
dignly,    from   God's    liberal   promise   and    agreement. 


OF   GRACE.  113 

More  of  them,  with  Bellarmine,  think  the  opinion  more 
probable  which  teaches  that  the  works  of  the  just  are 
meritorious  of  eternal  life  condignly,  both  by  reason 
of  the  promise,  ami  by  reason  of  the  dignity  of  the 
works.  As  to  the  hist  question,  it  is  the  common  opin- 
ion of  theologians  that  God  from  his  liberality,  rewards 
the  just  above  the  condign,  though  some  with  Vega 
deny  this.  But  they  do  not  seem  t<>  be  certain  whether 
G<>d  punishes  the  wickedness  thaji  they  deserve,  which, 
however,  was  the  opinion  of  St.  Augustine,  and  also  of 
Bellarmine,  as  to  the  punishment  awarded  at. the  judg- 
ment being  milder  than  the  evil  deserts  of  the  wicked. 
That  God  awards  to  the  just  beyond  what  is  merited 
seems  apparent  from  the  texts:  "  Be  glad  and  rejoice, 
for  3Tour  reward  is  very  great  in  Heaven."  *  "Give, 
and  it  shall  be  given  to  you  :  good  measure  and  pressed 
down  and  shaken  together  and  running  over  shall  they 
give  into  your  bosom." f  "And  Luke  xix.  17,  where 
ten  cities  having  been  given  to  him  who  gained  ten  tal- 
ents, and  afterwards  from  the  person  who  had  not  im- 
proved his  pound,  it  was  taken,  and,  as  an  extraordinary 
gift,  bestowed  upon  him  who  had  the  reward  of  ten 
aties. "I 

In  order  that  a  person  may  merit,  certain  conditions 
are  requisite.  1st.  Man  can  only  merit  while  still  in 
the  present  life — He  must  "work  wdiile  the  day  lasts." 
idly.  The  actions  must  be  under  all  respects  good,  with 
a  supernatural  goodness ;  the  object  of  merit  being 
supernatural,  viz  :  grace  and  eternal  life,  the  actions 
must  be  in  proportion  with  it,  and  be  supernatural! v 
good.  3dly.  The  actions  must  be  voluntary  and 
free,  having  a  liberty  of  choice,  excluding  all  necessity 
absolute  or  relative.  4thly.  To  merit  condignly,  a  man 
must  be  in  the  state  of  grace,  or  in  union  with  Jesus 
Christ  by  charity  ;  and  lastly,  to  merit  condignly,  there 
must  be  a  promise  of  God  to  give* something,  as  recom- 
pense for  our  works.  It  is  in  virtue  of  His  own  en- 
gagements that  He  becomes  out  debtor.    Without  these 

•  Math.  v.  IS.     t  Luko  vi  :  :JS.  .  J  Luke  xix  ■  17-2-i. 


Ill  0»   ftEACE. 

conditions,  wc  may  hope  for  and  obtain  certain  graces 
from  tlie  goodness  of  God,  and  ought  even  to  expect 
the  graces  necessary  for  our  salvation,  but  God  does 
not  owe  them  to  us,  and  it  is  only  by  a  sort  of  congrn- 
ity,  that  wc  look  for  them  from  his  infinite  mercy  and 
goodness. 

The  question  may  be  asked :  What  things  can  ive 
mefii  by  our  good  worlcs?  We  answer,  it  is  of  faith  that 
man  can,  in  no  manner,  merit  the  first  grace,  which  is 
purely  and  absolutely  gratuitous. 

2dly.  It  is  of  faith,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  canons 
which  we  have  cited,  that  the  just  can  truly  merit  an 
increase  of  grace,  eternal  life,  and  an  increase  of  the 
glory  of  Heaven.  3dly.  .The  just  cannot  condignly 
1 1  efficacious  grace,  or  final  perscverence,  as  God 
has  not  promised  either,  if  we  take  the  word  promise 
in  its  strict  signification.  But  the  just,  by  correspond- 
ing with  grace,  can,  by  congruity  or  suitableness,  merit 
more  abundant  graces,  and  even  suppliantty  the  gift  of 
perseverance;  " Hoc  itaquc  donum  suppliciter  emereri 
potest,"  says  St.  Augustine.  4thly.  The  sinner  can- 
not condignly,  or  as  a  matter  of  justice,  merit  sancti- 
fying grace,  because,  in  order  to  merit  condignly,  he 
must  be  in  union  with  Christ  by  charity,  and  in  a  state 
of  grace.  Yet,  as  God  "  docs  not  will  the  death  of  the 
sinner,  but  that  he  be  converted  and  live,"  ::;  if  the  sin- 
ner does  what  depends  on  him,  he  can  obtain  this  favor 
from  the  mercy  of  God. 

In  considering  good  works  and  their  merit,  wc  must 
bear  in  mind,  that  it  is  not  of  the  mere  moral  value  of 
actions  that  we  speak,  but  of  their  supernatural  moral 
value,  or  their  value  in  the  order  of  salvation.  The 
Apostle  St.  Paul  says  to  all  persons:  "Work  out  your 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling." f  The  Saviour 
says.  :  "Lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  Heaven."  $ 
The  sovereign  Judge  says:  "Behold  I  come  quickly, 
and  my  reward  is  with  me  to  render  to  every  man  ac- 

ch.  xxxiii  :  11.     f  Philip  ii :  12.    *J  JUaih.  vi :  20. 


cm      .  115 

cording  to  his  works.""  And.  St. .Paul  teaches  that 
kt  every  man  shall  receive  his  own  reward,  according  to 
his  own  labor."f  Fqr  although,  without  grace,  men 
can  do  nothing  to  obtain  eternal  life,  yet  grace  will  not 
do  every  thing  for  them,  but  they  must  co-operate  with 
it,  and,  "by  their  good  works,"  give  glory  to  God  who 
g  them.J 

The  justification  of  an  adult  is  comparatively  only 
commenced  by  his  translation  from  a  state  of  sin,  when 
God,  in  whom  he  believes,  makes  him  a  godly  and  just 
man  by  washing  away  his  sins  in  baptism;  for  "he  who 
is  just,  let  him  he  justified  still,  and  he  who  is  holy  let 
him  he  sanctified  still. "§  For  this,  St.  Augustjne  rep- 
resents, when  he  says:  "After  that,  by  fighting  with 
the  vices,  from  the  guilt  of  which  we  have  been  dis- 
charged," we  must  Make  progress  in  justice.  Nor  will 
this  even  be  enough  without  our  justice  shall  be  per- 
fected, "for  not  the  hearers  of  the  laws  arc  just  before 
God;  but  the  doers  of  the  law  shall  be  justified. "|j 
They  who  do  the  law  "shall  be  justified"  by  the  judg- 
ment of  God,  and  their  justice  shall  be  perfected  if  they 
persevere  in  doing  justice,  for  as  St.  Augustine  also 
holds:  "Our  hope  shall  be  fully  accomplished  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead;  and  when  our  hope  shall  be 
fulfilled,  then  shall  our  justification  be  fulfilled  and  ac- 
complished."^ 

NoW,  for  progress  in  justification,  which  is  increase 
in  grace  and  sanctity,  and  for  the  perfection  of  justifi 
cation;  which  is  its  accomplishment  by  the  just  judg 
ment  of  God,  good  works  arc  indispensable.  St.  Cy- 
prian says:  "  It  is  a  small  matter  to  be  able  to  get 
something.  It  is  more  to  be  able  to  keep  what  is  once 
gotten:  as  in  faith  itself  and  the  salutary  birth,  it  is 
not  the  receiving,  but  the  keeping  of  it  that  giveth  life, 
neither  is  it  the  attaining,  but  the  perfecting,  that  pre- 
serveth  a  man  to  God.     This  our  Lord  taught  by  his 


Apoc.  xxii :  12.     tlCor.  iii  lath,  vi  :  pi.     §Apoc.  xxii: 

||  Rum.  ii;   ID.'      ^  St,  Aug.  En.  lUti,  and  s^yiuu.  SI,  de  • 


116  OF    GRACE. 

own  instruction,*. when  He  said  :  "  Lo  thou  art  made 
whole,  sin  now  no  more,  lest  some  worse  thing  befall 
thee."t  When  Christ  "gave  himself  for  us,  that  he 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,"  the  Apostle  repre- 
sents that  it  was  his  purpose  "to  cleanse  to  himself  a 
people  acceptable,  a  pursuer  of  good  works. "$  Where- 
fore the  Apostle  exhorts:  "That  you  receive  not  the 
grace  of  God  in  vain,"§  which  would  be  the  case  most 
certainly,  if  being  "washed"  in  baptism,  and  justified, 
a  man  did  not  pursue  good  works,  but  still  did  the  Avorks 
of  the  ilesh,  since  St.  Peter  declares':  "For  it  had  been 
better  for  them  not  to  have  known  the  way  of  justice, 
than  after  they  have  known  it,  to  turn  back  from  that 
holy  commandment  that  was  delivered  to  thcm."||  The 
unclean  spirit  may  be  cast  out,  and  the  house  swept, . 
but  if  he  is  allowed  to  enter  again,  he  goes  in  "  with 
seven  others  worse  than  himself,  and  the  last  state  of 
that  man  is  worse  than  the  first.  "^[  The  order  given 
by  our  Lord  to  the  Apostles  was  to  teach  the  people 
his  gospel,  and  "to  command  them  to  observe"  all  his 
commandments;  for  the  people  whom  he  desired,  and 
who,  as  foretold  in  the  prophecy  of  Zachary.  when  he 
lv  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  should  be  granted  to 
him,  were  a  people,  "who  should  serve  him  without  fear, 
in  holiness  and  justice  before  him,  all  (their)  days."** 
The  advice  given  in  Ecclesiasticus  is:  "Let  nothing 
hinder  thee  from  praying  always,  and  be  not  afraid  to 
be  justified  even  to  death  ;  for  the  reward  of  God  con- 
tinueth  forever. "ft  ^ue  good  or  bad  works  -which 
we  do  arc  the  seed  we  sow,  "  and  what  things  a  man 
soweth  the  same  shall  he  reap,  for  he  that  soweth 
in  his  flesh,  of  the  flesh  also  shall  reap  corrup- 
tion. But  he  that  soweth  in  the  spirit,  of  the  spirit 
shall  reap  life  everlasting .  And  in  doing  good  let  us 
not  fail."|t  "Wherefore,  brethren,  labour  the  more 
that  by  good  works  you  may  make  sure  your  calling 
and  election. "§§     It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  a  man's 

*  John  v.       f  Cyp.  Lib.  i.  Ep.  5.      J  Tit.  ii:  14.      §  2  Cor.  vi ;   1. 
2  I'cier  li:  2*:       IT  Matli.  xii :  45.       **  Luke  i :  67-75.       ft  Ecc!. 
v  viii :  22.     %\  Gal.  vi :  8,  'J.     §§  2  Pet.  i : 


OF   GRACE.  117 

vocation  and  election  can  derive  great  benefit  from 
good  works,  since  St.  Peter  recommends  them  as  the 
means  to  make  election  s>irc,  or  certain,  and  consequent- 
ly they  must  have  an  intrinsic  value,  and  are  not  the 
-mere  evidences  of  faith.  St.  Paul' represents  "ever- 
lasting, or  eternal  life,"  as  the  product  of  a  man's 
works  or  of  what  he  sows,  for  he  says,  "he  shall  reap 
everlasting  life,"  and  it  must  therefore  be,  by  the  mer- 
its of  his  good  works,  that  he  obtains  it,  although  not 
by. his  works  alone,  since  "eternal  life  is  the  grace  of 
God,"  but  by  his  works  inspired  and  aided  by  divine 
grace. 

B?here  never  was  a  greater  snare  oC  the  devil  to  ruin 
souls  than  the  notion,  that  man  will  be  saved  by  faith 
alone  as  taught  by  Luther;  and  that  good  works  are  no 
more  than  a  testimony  to  declare  their  faith,  but  are 
not  deserving  of  any  reward  of  life  everlasting,  as 
taught  by  Calvin, * 

This  was  not  the  invention  of  these  reformers,  for 
St.  Augustine  combated  the  same  error,  saying : 
"  That  is  the  most  dangerous  opinion  of  all,  whereby 
men  are  made  believe,  that  no  matter  how  lewdly  and 
shamelessly  they  live,  and  even  continue  in  that  kind 
of  life,  yet  if  they  only  believe  in  Christ,  and  receive 
his  sacraments,  they  shall  come  to  everlasting  life.""] 
St.  Augustine  even  shows  the  source  of  this  error;  he 
says  :  "  For  men,  not  understanding  these  words  of  the 
Apostle:  We  think  a  man  to  bejustijiid  by  faith  with- 
out the  works  of  tlie  law,  Horn,  iii:  28,  thought,  he  said, 
it  is  sufficient  for  a  man  to  have  faith  although  he  live 
wickedly  and  do  no  good  works.  But  God  forbid  that 
the  chosen  vessel  should  be  of  that  opinion. "%  The 
Apostle  did  not  mean  to  exclude  "the  works  of  faith," 
but  merely  "the  works  of  the  law,"  for  he  declares  ex* 
pro-sly:  " Neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor 
uncircuiiK-isioii  ;  But  faith  that  worketh  by  charity. "§ 
"It  is  not  every  faith,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "whereby  a 


*  CrIv.  Instl.  Captde  Just.  Cap.  10.      -j-  \wj  de  Fi<l<>  et  Ope.  Cap. 
.27.     J  Aug.  de  Gratia  ot  Liber  Arb.  c  .  7.     gGat.  vi:  '3. 


116  OF    GRACE. 

man  bclieveth  in  God,  that  the  Apostle  dctermuieth  to 
))(•  healthful  and  evangelical,  l>ut  it  is  that  faith,  saith  ho, 

' k  through  charity,  whereupon  he  avoucheth 
that  the  faith,  which  some  assume  to  he  sufficient  for 
their  salvation,  availeth  nothing;  in  bo  much  that  be 
declares:  'if  I  have  ad  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove 
mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  noth- 
ing.' "*  If  it  be  the  faith  that  worketh  by  charity  that 
availeth,  it  is  conclusive  that  faith  alone  availeth  noth- 
ing for  salvation.  And  how  then  can  faith  alone  justi- 
fy a  man'.''  Justification  is  a  great  thing,  and  the  faith 
that  is  alone  without  charity  profiteth  tiothing,  much 
less  can  it  avail  to  justify.  Faith  may  lie  in  the  wiA 
ed  hut  not  charity,  and  therefore  not  an  active  working 
faith,  for  wherever  there  is  charity  it  worketh,  and 
charity  cannot  lie  where  faith  is  not,  hut  where  charity 
rith  it  faith  itself  also  worketh.  Though  their  i; 
also  a  law  for  charity,  yet  it  is  not  merely  t-a  work  of 
the  law,"  for  it  is  a  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
grace  of  (jrod;  "the  charity  of  God  is  poured  forth  in 
our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  who  is  given  to  us."f 

No  person  can  love  God  unless  he  believes  in  him; 
but  no  person  also  can  love  God  and  not  keep  his  com- 
mandments, for  the   Saviour  ny  man    love 
me  he  will  k-                ord,  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
and  we  will  come  to  him,  and  will  make  our  abode  with 
him."]."     Again:   "  God  is  charity  :   and  he  that  abideth 
in  charity,  abideth  in  God.  and  God  in  hin 
who  is  it  that  loveth  God'.''"     Jesus  Christ  answers 
question:  "He  that  hath  my  commandments  and  keep- 
'■lb  then::    lie  it  is  that  loveth  me. "||     What  is  it  to 
lieve  in  Christ  ?     It  is  to  dwell  in  Christ,  and. not  mere 
ly  to                    '  of  the  mind  that  the  Son  of  God  c; 
On  earth  ami  died  for  sinners,  since  the  devils 
ana  tremble,  and  yet  they  cannot  profit  by  their  belief. 
"Whoever  shall  confess  that  Jesus  fs  the  Son  of  < 

•  St.  An  t  0  '.    De  Gratia  ef  lib.  arbit.  < 


I 


OF  il!» 

God  abidcth  in  hiin,  ami  he  in  God."  But,  as  wo  have 
sen,  faith  ;ilonc  will  not  cause  God  to  abide  in  any 
man,  but  "he  that  abideth  in  charity,  abidcth  in  God, 
and  God  in  him,"  ami  therefore  the  confession  of  Christ 
must  be  in  charity  as  -well  as  faith,  and  this  charity 
must  not  be  merely  in  words  but  in  works,  a  charity 
that  workcth ;  it  must  be  a  love  of  God  which  ki 
his  commandments,  a  charity  which  obeys:  "And 
whereas  indeed  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  he  learned  obe- 
dience by  the  things  which  he  suffered;  and  being  con- 
summated,  lie  became  to  all  that  obey  him,  the  cause  of 
eternal  Balvation."?* 

Did  he  become  the  cause  of  salvation  to  those  who 
only  believe  in  him,  and  who  do  not  obey  him  ?  Cer- 
tainly not.  Yet  the  Apostle  says,  "by  grace  you  are 
saved  through  faith, "f  but  he  does  not  gay  by  faith 
alone;  nor  by  a  faith  that  excludes  charity  and  obe- 
dience;  nor  even  by  a  faith  which  excludes  hope,  for 
lie  says:  "For  we  arc  saved  by  hope"!  A"I°  a^so  savs  : 
"He  saved  us  by  the  laver  of  regeneration,  and  the 
renovation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  §  which  is,  by  baptism, 
.It  is  through  hope  and  love  that  our  faith  must  work, 
and  by  these  three  together  man  is  conducted  to  God, 
through  obedience,  and  with  the  use  of  the  sacraments, 
which  Jesus  Christ  has  provided  to  be  the  channels  for 
applying  the  merits  of  his  blood,  and  conferring  the 
graces  which  are  necessary.  For  "being  justilied  by 
iiis  blood,  we  shall  be  saved,"  ||  for  "in  him  we  hav 
redemption  by  his  blood,  the  remission  of  sins,"^[  and 
therefore  St.  Augustine  draws  up  a  general  conclusion 
as  to  the  difference  between  the  sacraments  of  the  old 
law  and  those  of  the  new  ;  the  first  "promise  a  saviour," 
but  "the  sacraments  of  the  new  l&w give  salvation.' 
And  why  are  these  last  so  superior  in  excellence  and 
efficacy?  He  says:  "The  side  of  Christ  hanging  on 
the  cross  was  struck  with  a  lance,  and  the  sacraments 
of  the  church  flowed  out."  ft     The  sacraments,  thcre- 

*Heb.  v:  6,  9.     t  Eph.  li:  8.     JRom.  viii  :  24.     §Tit.  3:  5. 
Rom.  v.  '.i.     li  F.ph.  i  :  7,  and  Col  i  :   II-     *»  Si.  Aug.  in  Ps.  73. 
|  ;  Si    \,      ,.:  p  .    <i  ttnd  Ps.  1,03. 

■» 


120  OF   GRACE. 

fore,  coming  from  the  side  of  Christ,  apply  to  us  his 
blood.  They  are  instruments  for  cleansing  us  with  the 
blood  of  redemption,  and  enriching  us  with  sanctifying 
graces.  "Their  value  is  unspeakable,"  as  we  .ire  told 
by  the  same  St.  Augustine,  "  and  therefore  the  con- 
tempt of  them  renders  pcrsene  sacrilegious;  for  that  is 
impiously  despised  without  whicii  godliness  and  piety 
cannot  be  perfected,"*  What  has  been  already  said 
should  be  sufficient  to  prove  that  it  is  vain  to  con- 
fide in  a  justification  by  faith  alone,  and  to  establish 
the  value,  importance,  and  necessity  of  other  virtues, 
and  of  good  works.  We  will  therefore  conclude  this 
part  of  the  subject  with  a  statement  of  reasons  why 
such  works  of  the  just  man  are  so  agreeable  to  God. 
The  1st  is,  because  God.  has  been  pleased  to  ordain  that 
man  and  his  actions  performed  by  aid  of  his  own  graces 
should  tend  to  the  supernatural  end  to  which  he  en- 
courages him  to  aspire.  2dly,  because  of  the  merits  of 
his  own  beloved  Son  and  the  grace  of  redemption,  God 
blessing  us  in  Jesus  Christ  with  spiritual  blessings. 
3dly.  Because  of  his  adoption  of  us  by  baptism  among 
his  children,  our  works  receive  a  great  and  threefold 
dignity  in  his  sight ;  1st,  as  the  works  of  his  children ; 
•  2dly,  as  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  dwelleth  in 
us  and  is  the  author  of  them ;  3dly,  because  by  grace 
we  are  made  members  of  the  mystic  body  of  Jesus 
Christ,  so  that  our  good  works  arc  referred  to  him  as 
to  the  head  of  the  body,  and  are  therefore  especially 
worthy  of  esteem.  4thly.  Moreover  they  are  of  value, 
because  they  are  not  good  works  except  as  having  been 
induced  by  the  prevenient  and  performed  by  the  assist- 
ing grace  of  God.  And  finally,  a  chief  reason  why 
God  should  value  and  reward  them  is,  because  of  his 
most  liberal  promise  to  reward  the  good  works  of  his 
children  according  to  the  merit. of  their  goodness. 

It  is  a  mere  subterfuge  to  object  to  such  good  works' 
as  unworthy  of  merit,  because  of  God's  infinite  perfec- 

*St.  Aujj.  Cont.  Faust,  lib.  19,  Cap.  11. 


OF  GRACE.  121 

tion  and  holiness,  and  man's  imperfections  and  unwor- 
thiness,  because  God  does  not  propose  in  rigor  to  refer 
the  works  of  men  to  the  standard  of  his  own  most  ex- 
cellent and  perfect  justice,  but  to  the  standard  of  such 
justice  and  perfection  as  he  invites  mam  to  aspire  to, 
and  as  he  knows  man  can  attain  to,  when  assisted  by 
the  graces,  which  he  liberally  bestows  upon  him  in  order 
to  make  him  able  to  become  holy,  and  bring  forth  in 
his  life  the  fruits  of  holiness. 

For  gaining  the  reward,  it  is  certain  that  final  per- 
severance is  necessary,  and  since  no  person,  without  an 
express  revelation,  can  be  certain  that  he  will  perse- 
vere to  the  end,  or  even  be  assured  that  his  works  have 
all  the  conditions  requisite  to  make  them  worthy  of 
recompense,  it  is  not  probable  that  any  one  seeking  sal- 
vation will  be  foolish  enough  to  confide  in  his  own  past 
merits,  but  rather  shelter  himself,  with  frequent  prayers 
and  appeals  for  forgiveness  of  his  daily  faults  and  im- 
perfections, under  the  infinite  mercies  and  goodness  of 
God. 

Modern  rationalists,  in  their  empty  pride,  may  pre- 
tend that  this  doctrine  of  grace  depreciates  the  digni- 
ty and  the  natural  forces  of  man,  and  constrains  his 
freedom  of  will.  They  think  nature  suffices,  and  will 
have  nothing  but  nature.  But  the  Christian  knows 
that  man  is  a  contingent,  dependent  being,  and  that 
he  would  soon  cease  to  exist,  the  moment  God  shoald 
withdraw  from  him  that  active  aid,  which  preserves  his 
existence,  and,  in  giving  which,  God  concurs  with  his  ac- 
tions while  he  leaves  them  perfectly  free  ;  so  he  is  con- 
vinced, that  the  same  all-wise  and  intelligent  Being, 
free  it  his  operations,  knows  how  to  give  aid  to  man, 
and  to  concur  with  his  actions  in  the  supernatural 
orde*r,  without  throwing  constraint  on  his  freedom  of 
will.  The  Christian  has  not  only  experience  of  tho 
insufficiency  of  man's  natural  forces  with  respect  to 
willing  and  doing  good,  of  his  deficiency  of  reason  and 
infirmity  of  will,  and  of  his  inclinations  evil,  but  more- 
over, he  has  actual  experience  of  an  assisting  agency, 
something  which  he  knows  is  not  of  himself,  inspiring 
6 


222  OF   GRACE. 

and  exciting  nim  to  resist  ey.il  in  thought,  word,  ana! 
deed,  suggesting  better,  nobler  thoughts  and  purposes, 
and  strengthening  his  will  to  deny  himself,  and  to  prac- 
tice virtue  in  defiance  of  the  strongest  temptations. 

He  has  experience  of  the  influence  of  grace,  and 
knows  that  he  can  resist  it,  while  he  freely  obeys  it. 
He  therefore  esteems  it  a  wonderful  enhancement  of 
his  dignity,  that  his  God,  as  a  loving  Father,  while 
leaving  him  in  the  hands  of  his  own  counsel,  should  in- 
vite him  to  aspire  to  an  end  so  greatly  above  his  deserts 
and  his  natural  powers,  a  supernatural  end,  the  glory 
and  happiness  of  heaven ;  and  should  supply  his  want 
of  ability  by  his  divine  assistance  freely  oflered,  and  to 
he  freely  accepted.* 

Of  Predestination. 

As  the  great  mystery  of  Predestination  13  usually 
considered  by  theologians  when  treating  the  subject  of 
grace,  a  few  words  concerning  it  may  perhaps  be  deT 
sired.  The  Council  of  Trent  tells  us  :  "  No  one  more- 
over, so  long  as  he  is  in  this  mortal  life,  ought  so  far  to 
presume  as  regards  the  secret  mystery  of  divine  pre- 
destination, as  to  determine  for  cei  tain  that  he  is  as- 
suredly in  the  number  of  ths  predestinate  ;  as  if  it  were 
true,  that  he  that  is  justified,  either  cannot  sin  any 
more,  or  if  he  do  sin,  that  he  ought  to  promise  himself 


*  Some,  like  the  Pelagians,  have  erred  by  exalting  man's  natural 
forces,  as  if  sufficient  of  themselves  to  conduct  man  to  his  super- 
natural end,  and-others,  like  Baius.  by  attributing  all  to  grace,  as- 
serting an  entire  min  of  human  liberty,  and  ignoring  or  denying 
free  will  in  man,  so  easy  is  it  for  the  human  mind  to  fall  into  errors' 
about  revealed  truths.  If  man  had  not  free  will,  it  could  pot  be 
understood  How  he  could  be  responsible  ;  -how  he  could  commit 
sin;  or  why  Sod  would  give  commandments  and  make  promises 
of  reward  for  keepiyg  them,  and  wiih  jtlirea.s  of  punishment  lor 
their  violation;  how  God  could  sit  in  judgment  upon  men;  or  vvhtt 
would  be  in  man  to  be  saveu1 ;  for  according  to  St  Bernard's  remark: 
''Take  away  free  •will,  anfl  there  will  be  nothing  that  may  be 
sated." — De  Grat.  et  Lib  Arbit.  Man's  free  will  was  weakened  by 
original  sin,  but  not  destroyed)  and  ia  repaired,  by  th.6  gracs  of  God 
in  the  sacrament  of  bapti3m. 


05   O&ACJfe  1*23 

an  assured  repentance  ;  for  except  by  spechl  revela- 
tion, it  cannot  be  known  wl  om  God  lias  chosen  to  Him- 
self."* * 

With  reference  to  God   I  who  exists  in  eter- 

.  and  by  whom   all,  t!  ossible"  or  existing,  is 

seen  at  once  and  always,  the  word  predestination  would 
Beem  to  be  a  term  inapplicable.     It  is  a  word  suited  to 
our  mode  "of  existence  in  succession  of  time,  and  for  us, 
there   no  doubt   exists,  that  which  corresponds  with  it, 
an  eternal  calling,  foreknowing,  election,  and  foreor- 
daining of  those  most  happy  persons  who  will  be  saved, 
received  into  glory,  and  enjoy  God  and  everlasting  life. 
It  would  be  impossible  that  God  should  not  know  these 
as  well  from  eternity  as  when  their  glory  shall  be  ful- 
filled.    Their  number  is  of  course  fixed  and  certain.  It 
is  revealed  to  us  that  God  desires  all  to  be  saved,  and 
that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  all,  and  consequently,  that 
the  grace  necessary  for  solvation  is  given  to  all,  yet  it 
is  given  in  different  measures  and  proportions.     God 
has,  it  seems,  more  solicitude  for  the  safety  of  some,  who 
like  St.  Paul,  are  vessels  of -election,  than  for  others,  but 
the  mystery  of  his  Providence  is  an  abyss  into  which, 
we  have  no  power  to  gaze.     St.  Augustine  says,  "Pre- 
destination is  nothing  el?e  than  that  foreknowledge,  and 
preparation  of  the  benefits  of  God,  by  which,  most  cer- 
tainly  those   are  liberated,   whoever  are  liberated. "f 
Another  definition  is  that  termed  by  St.  Thomas  magis- 
terial: "Predestination  is  the  preparation  of  grace  in 
the  present,  and  of  gloiy  in  the  future."^ 

The  opposite,  to  pred     .  n  to  efficacious  and  vic- 

torious grace  and  to  glory,  is  called  reprobation,  which, 
as  God  does  nothing  in  tune  which  he  has  not  resolved 
to  do  from  eternity,  is  called  an  eternal  decree,  exclud- 
ing from  e\  '  life,  and  consigning  to  eternal 
.pains,  certain  persons  on  account  of  their  sins.  Some 
make  a  distinction  without  a  verv'great  difference,  and 


•  Sesa.  VI.,  cb  xii.       i  Aug  Da  doao.  Persoveran:i».      %  l  Di»»- 
£0,  quae»t.  i,  Art.  ii. 


124  Of    GllACE. 

call  it  "a  passing  by,"  or  withholding  of  predestination,' 
though  this  amounts  to  an  exclusion. 

That  there  exists  a  true  predestination  is  clear  from 
the  citation  we  have  made  from  the  Council  of  Trent, 
and  also  from  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Our  Saviour  says: 
"  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  possess  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 
Math,  xxv :  34.  "  Fear  not,  little  flock,  for  it  hath 
pleased  your  Father  to  give  you  a  kingdom."  Luke 
xii:  32.  "And  whom  he  predestinated  them  also  he 
called.  And  whom  he  called ;  them  he  also  justified. 
And  whom  he  justified  ;  them  he  also  glorified."  Rom. 
viii:  30.  Again:  "As  he  chose  us  in  him  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world)  that  we  should  be  holy  and 
unspotted  in  his  sight  in  charity.  Who  had  predestined 
us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  through  Jesus  Christ 
unto  himself,  according  to  the  purpose  of  his  wrill." 
Ephes.  i :  4,  5. 

*As  it  is  expressly  declared  in  the  Scriptures  that  life 
everlasting  is  the  grace  of  God:  "But  the  grace  of 
God,  life  everlasting  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,"  Rom. 
vi:  22,  we  are  required  to  believe,  as  being  of  faith, 
that  this  predestination  is  a  gratuitous  gift  of  God,  the 
e  of  graces^  Yet  as  the  Scriptures  also  term  it  a 
ardj  and  a  crown  of  justice,  eternal  life,  as  glory, 
also  supposes  the  merits  of  the  just.  Rut  it  is  also  a 
doctrine  of  faith  that  the  good  works  and  merits  of  the 
just  are  themselves  gifts  of  God.  It  isby  the  grace  of 
*God  and  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  the  just  are 
able  to  merit  eternal  life  by  their  good  works,  so  that 
the  merits  of  the  just  are  not  excluded  by  the  fact  that 
predestination  is. a  grace. 

Theologians  speculate  about  the  decree  of  predesti- 
nation. Some  think  it  absolute,  and  that  God  gives  it 
without  respect  to  prevision  of  the  merits  of  the  just 
by  the  aid  of  his  grace,  and  that  they  do  not  attain 
glory  because  they  correspond  with  grace,  but  corres- 
pond with  grace  because  predestined  to  glory,  while 
others  think  the  decree  is  conditional,  and  founded  on 
God's  prevision  of   the  merits  of  the  just  from  grace 


or   GRA 

I 

given  to»them.  The  church  has  never  decided  this 
question,  and  it  is  one  that  men  cannot  settle  by  ap- 
peal to  the  Scriptures.  It  being  left  free,  many  great 
and  pious  divines  incline  to  believe  that  the  predesti- 
nation is  conditional,  and  founded  on  a  prevision  of  su- 
pernatural merits  in  the  just.  They  think  this  presents 
fewer  difficulties,  and  harmonizes  more  with  the  will  of 
God  that  all  should  be  saved  ;  but  as  it  has  never  been 
decided  by  the  church,  they  refrain  from  censuring  the 
opinion  that  the  decree  is  absolute,  and  anterior  to  the 
prevision  of  supernatural  merits,  and  this  opinion  is 
sustained  by  theologians  of  great  authority,  with  strong 
reasons.  Of  course  the  advocates  of  both  opinions 
make  them  agree  with  the  doctrine  of  free  will  in  man, 
which  is  a  point  of  faith  that  all  have  to  receive. 

Lcssius,  the  learned  Jesuit,  in  his  troatise  on  predes- 
tination, had  advocated  the  opinion,  that  predestination 
to  glory  is  consequent  on  God's  prevision  of  merits, 
and  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  in  writing  to  him,  shows  that 
the  same  was  his  opinion.  "In  the  library  of  the  col- 
lege of  Lyons,"  he  writes  to  him,  "I  saw  your  treatise 
on  predestination.  ^  It  is  true  I  have  only  glanced  over 
it  hurriedly,  as  is  sometimes  done.  Yet  I  have  not 
failed  to  remark  that  your  paternity  entertains  that 
opinion,  so  ancient,  so  consoling,  and  so  authorized  by 
the  Scriptures  in  their  natural  meaning,  namely,  that 
God  predestines  men  to  glory  in  consequence  of  his 
prevision  of  their  merits  ;  and  this  for  me  has  been 
the  cause  of  the  greatest  joy,  as  I  have  always  regard- 
ed this  doctrine  as  the  most  consonant  with  the  mercy 
of  God,  and  with  his  grace,  as  the  most  approaching 
the  truth,  and  most  calculated  to  inspire  love  of  God,  as 
I  have,  in  the  meantime,  indicated  in  my  little  book  on 
the  Love  of  God."* 

The  doctrine  of  the  ancient  predestinatiojiists  was, 
that  God,  by  an  eternal  decree,  absolutely,  and  with- 
out regard  to  the   lives  of  persons,  foreordained  and 


*  Letter  from  Annecy,  Aug.  26,  1(318,  in  Vol.  III.  of  works  of  St. 
Francis  de  Sales. 


126  OF    tiJUCJ!. 

S 
predestined  certain  persons  to  wickedness,  and  to  eter- 
nal torments.  Calvin  revived  this  revolting  error.  The 
Church  has  declared  such  a  belief  detestable,  and  set 
upr>n  it  the  seal  of  her  anathema. 

The  second  council  of  Orange,  held  in  the  year  529? 
say3  :  "  Not  only  do  we  not  believe  that  God  has  pre- 
destined some  to  evil,  but  if  there  be  any  who  wish  to 
believe  so  wicked  a  thing,  with  the  greatest  detestation 
we  say  to  them:  Anathema."*  The  council  of  Va- 
/ence,  held  in  855,  says:  "That  God  foreknew,  and 
eternally  has  foreknown  that  the  good  were  to  do  good 
things,  and  that  the  wicked  were  to  do  evil  things.   .  . 

We  hold,  and  H  pleaseth  us  to  hold,  that  He 

foreknew  that  the  good  were  to  be  good  entirely  through 
his  grace,  and  through  the  same'grace  to  receive  eter- 
nal reward;. :  that  He  foreknew  that  the  wicked  were 
to  be  bad  through  their  own  malice,  and  to  be  condemn- 
ed to  eternal  punishment  by  his  justice. "f  The  same 
council  further  declares  that  the  prevision  of  God  im- 
poses no  necessity  on  any  one;  but  that  God,  who 
knows  all  things  before  they  occur,  has  foreseen  that 
the  wicked  would  be  so  by  their  owp  will;  that  whoever 
is  condemned  is  so  by  the  desert  of  his  own  iniquity, 
and  not  by  a  decree  anterior  to  the  divine  foreknow- 
ledge :  if  any  perish,  it  is  not  because  they  were  not 
able  to  be  good,  but  because  they  were  not  willing  to 
be  good.  The  Council  of  Treat  has  the  following  ca- 
non: "  If  any  one  saith,  that  the  grace  of  justification 
is  only  attained  by  those  who  are  predestined  unto  life; 
but  that  all  others  who  are  callefl,  are  called  indeed, 
but  receive  not  grace,  as  being  by  divine  power  predes- 
tined unto  evil;  let  him  be  Anathema."!  The  follow- 
ing sentence  from  St.  Augustine,  on  the  same  point,  is 
very  clear:  "God  is  good,  God  is  just;  He  can  libe= 
rate  certain  persons  without  good  merits,  because  he  13 
good;  He  cannot  damn  any  one  without  evil  merits, 
because  he  is  just;"§     When  Jesus  Christ  condemns  the 

♦Council  of  Urange,  Can.  xxii.        flu  Labbe.  Counc.  Tom 
Col.  135,  cited  bj  ...  JSesi   VI.  San.  xvii.  V^"' 

Cent.  Julian.  Op.  xviii 


OF   GRACE.  1_< 

wicked  at  the  final  judgment,  he  enumerates  their  de- 
merits as  the  cause  ;  and  he  says  that  M  everlasting  fire 
was  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,"  but  he  does 
not  say  it  was  prepared  for  wicked  men,*  so  also  St. 
Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  chap,  ii :  9,  says  : 
"  Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every  soul  that  worketh 
ev>l."  "  Is  it  my  will  that  a  sinner  should  die,  saith 
the  Lord  God,  and  not  that  lie  should  be  converted 
from  Iris  ways  and  live?"f  "  The  Lord  delayeth  not 
his  promise,  as  some  imagine,  but  dealeth  patiently  for 
your  sake,  "not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that 
all  should  return  to  penance. "|  "For  God  made  not 
death,  neither  hath  he  pleasure  in  the  destruction  of 
tlie  living. '*§  It  is  therefore  a  dogma  of  faith,  that 
God  does  not  decree  anyone  to  reprobation  and  eternal 
punishment  except  after  his  prevision  of  their  voluntary 
wickedness.  If  then,  there  be  some  whom  God  has 
not  included  in  his  decree  of  predestination  to  glory 
and  eternal  life,  it  is  certain,  that  His  prevision  of  their 
unwillingness  to  obey  and  serve  him,  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, went  before  his  reprobation  of  them.  As 
to  infants,  who  die  without  baptism,  even  when  their  pa- 
rents are  guilty  of  no  neglect  in  frying  to  procure  bap- 
tism for  them,  it  must  be  admitted,  that,  by  his  general 
providence,  God  has  afforded  them  the  means  of  salvation, 
which  would  have  become  a  special  blessing  to  them, 
had  all  his  laws  and  intentions  been  corresponded  with 
freely  by  men ;  but  because  of  excesses  and  violations 
of  his  laws,  which  take  place  somewhere  in  the  line  of 
descent,  and  even  at  times  are  committed  by  the  imme- 
diate ancestors,  there  are  children  with  bodies  so  unfit- 
ted to  endure,  that  they  merely  come  into  the  world, 
breathe  a  few  times,  and  fall  immediately  into  the  arms 
of  death,  before  baptism  can  be  administered  to  them. 
For  such,  it  cannot  be  pretended  that  God  is  bound  to 
suspend  his  laws  and  work  miracles  to  sustain  their 
lives,  that  they  may  receive  baptism.     Besides,  who  can 


•  Math.  xxv.  fEzech.  xviii:  23.  J  2  Peter  iii-   9, 

§Wisd.  i:   13. 


128  OF   GRACE. 

say  if  God  does  not  foreknow  that  these  very  infants, 
if  left  longer  in  life,  would  afterwards  be  in  a  worse 
condition  during  all  eternity,  than  they  will  be  from 
having  died  without  baptism  f  Who  knows,  if  left  in  life, 
that  thoy  would  not,  as  so  many  do,  abuse  reason,  grace 
and  all  the  gifts  of  God,  and  daily  "heap  up  for  tliem- 
selves  treasures  of  wrath"  for  eternity?  It  may  then 
be  a  special  mercy  to  them,  for  all  we  know,  that  they 
are  taken  away  unbaptized,  and  without  any  actual  sins 
to  be  expiated.  Also  many  infants  die  unbaptized  from 
the  criminal  unbelief  and  indifference  of  parents,  al- 
though their  lives  are  prolonged  sufficiently,  but  no  one 
can  say  that  God  should  work  miracles  to  make  those 
parents  carry  their  children  to  the  font  of  baptism. 

There  can  be  conceived  no  more  flagrant  absurdity 
than  for  a  person  to  argue,  as  some  are  said  to  do,  that 
because  the  mystery  of  predestination  exists,  and  God. 
foreknows  whether  they  will  be  among  the  elect  or  rep- 
robate, and  whatever  ne  foreknows  will  necessarily  oc- 
cur, they  will  continue  to  live  as  pleases  them. 

It  is  absurd  to  argue  and  act  thus  about  their  most 
important  affair,  when  they  do  not  reason  and  act  in 
the  same  way  about  other  matters.  All  things  that  are 
to  occur  to  us  in  the  future,  are  as  much  foreknown  to 
God  as  is  our  lot  during  eternity,  and  yet  no  man  says: 
God  knows  whether  I  will  have  money  or  not,  and 
therefore  I  will  not  work  or  act  for  obtaining  it ;  God 
knows  whether  or  not  I  will  have  a  crop,  arfd  therefore 
I  will  not  trouble  myself  about  preparing  the  ground, 
putting  in  the  grain,  or  attending  to  it ;  I  am  very  sick, 
and  God  knows  whether  I  am  to  get  well,  and  I  will 
not  use  remedies  nor  employ  the  skill  of  a  physi- 
cian. •  Why  then  should  a  man  so  reason  about  his  lot 
in  eternity  ?  Rather  he  ought  to  say  :  if  God  foresees 
that  I  am  to  be  among  the  saVed,  he  also  foresees  that 
I  am  to  keep  his  commandments,  and  pursue  a  holy 
life  and  good  works,  and  if  I  am  now  living  in  this 
manner  I  must  "take  heed  lest  I  fall,"  but  I  may  hope 
for  his  grace  to  grow  yet  more  holy,  and  to  persevere 
to  the  end.     But  if  I  am  leading  a  wicked  lifex  and  am 


OF   GRACE.  129 

unwilling  to  change  my  conduct,  God  no  doubt  has  fore- 
seen the  whole  of  this,  and  no  doubt  he  foresees  how  it 
will  terminate  with  me,  as  I  may  also  be  able-  to  foresee 
myself,  from  what  has  happened  to  others,  and  from 
what  reason  and  God's  revelation  teach  me ;  and 
if  I  wish  to  avoid  such  an  awful  destiny,  I  had  better 
pray  to  God  to  aid  me  with  his  grace,  and  change  my 
life  immediately,  since .  I  cannot  expect  to  die  in  the 
friendship  and  love  of  God,  unless  I  strive  to  live  as 
his  servant  and  friend.  I  know  that  "  God  wills  not 
the  death  of  the  sinner,  but  rather  that  he  be  convert- 
ed and  live."* 

The  Five%Propositions  of  Jansenius. 

We  here  present  the  noted  five  propositions  of  Jan- 
senius, as  declared  to  be  taught  in  his  book  under  the 
title  of  Augustinus,  in  which  Jansenius  pretended  to 
give  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine  on  grace.  Janse- 
nius, Bishop  of  Ypres,  was  born  the  28th  of  October, 
1585,  and  died  on  the  6th  of  May,  1638.  His  book, 
published  after  his  death,  caused  great  trouble  and  dis- 
pute. The  bishops  of  France  denounced  it  to  the  Holy 
See,  and  asked  for  the  condemnation  of  the  five  propo- 
sitions, which  show  the  errors  he  taught  in  his  book. 
They  were  condemned  by  Pope  Innocent  X.  on  the 
31st  of  May,  1653.     They  are  as  follows  : 

I. — Some  of  the  commandments  of  God  are  impos- 
sible to  the  just,  even  when  they  desire  and  exert  them- 
selves to  accomplish  them,  according  to  the  forces  they 
have  at  the  time ;  and  the  grace  which  would  render 
them  possible  is  wanting  to  them. 

Condemned  as  heretical. 

II. — In  the  state  of  fallen  nature  interior  grace  is 
never  resisted. 

Condemned  as  heretical. 

•  Ezecb.  xxxiii :   11. 


130  EXTERNAL   WORSHIP.  v 

III. — In  order  to  merit  or  demerit  in  the  state  of 
fallen  nature,  the  liberty  in  man,  which  excludes  neces- 
sity, is  nojt  required,  but  the  liberty,  which  excludes 
constraint,  suffices. 

Condemned  as  heretical. 

'  IV. — The  Semipelagians  admitted  the  necessity  of 
interior  prevenient  grace  for  each  action  in  particular, 
even  for  the  commencement  of  faith ;  and  they  were 
heretics  in  this  that  they  wished  that  this  grace  be  such, 
that  the. will  of  man  can  resist  or  obey  it. 

Condemned  as  false  and  heretical. 

V. — To  say  that  Jesus  Christ  died,  or  shed  his  blood 
generally  for  all  men,  is  to  fall  into  the  error  of  the 
Semipelagians.  • 

This  proposition  was  condemned  as  false  ;  and,  un- 
derstood in  the  sense  that  Jesus  Christ  only  died  for 
the  salvation  of  the  predestinated,  it  was  condemned  as 
impious,  blasphemous,  and  heretical. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

OF  EXTERNAL  WORSHIP — RELIGION  MUST  BE  EXTERNAL 
AND  CORPORAL,  AS  WELL  AS  INTERNAL  AND  SPIRIT- 
UAL— SIGNS — CEREMONIES  AND  FORMS. 

Jesus  Christ  declared  that  in  his  religion  men  "should 
worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  His  religion  then, 
being  the  relations  between  God  and  man,  must  be  in 
accordance  with  the  natures  of  both  man  and  God.  God 
is  a  pure  spirit,  but  man  is  not.  He  is  a  compound  or 
mixed  being,  consisting  of  body  as  well  as  of  soul. 
The  soul  is  the  most  excellent  part  of  his  being,  but  the 
body  is  an  integral  portion,and  the  soul  does  not  act  alone, 
but  acts  by  the  body,  and  with  the  body.  The  union 
of"  these  two  substances  is  profound  and  intimate,  and, 


EXTERNAL   WORSHIP.  131 

while  life  reniains,  they  depend  oft  each  other.  The 
soul  needs  and  uses  the  senses  in  all  the  acts  of  man, 
artd  hence  in  all  our  relations  we  need  the  sensible, 
material  element,  such  as  words  spoken  and  written, 
Signs,  ceremonies,  forms,  images,  &c.  The  eourse  of 
our  life  is  made  up  of  the  constant  use  of  the  sensible 
and  material,  although  the  mind  infuses  into  these  the 
ideal  and  intelligible.  "  God  is  a  spirit ;  and  they  that 
adore  him,  must  adore  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  * 
To  worship  God*  in  spirit,  is  not  enough  therefore,  be- 
cause the  truth  of  man's  nature  is  not^ found  in  spirit 
only,  but  requires  also  the  body,  and,  therefore,  to  wor- 
ship God  in  truth,  and  with  the  whole  man,  our  worship 
must  also  be  the  worship  of  all  the  powers  of  the  body, 
together  with  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul.  A  religion 
purely  spiritual,  is  a  conceit  imagined  by  the  pride  of 
those,  who  do  not  love  to  carry  the  yoke  of  God's  ser- 
vice, since  they  are  not  able  to  do  any  thing  purely 
spiritual,  in  order  to  manifest  to  their  fellow  men  that 
they  acknowledge  their  dependance  on  God,  for  their 
existence,  and  for  all  that  they  are  and  have.  And 
even  when  they  profess  to  have  any  religion  at  all,  they 
are  forced  to  use  the  sensible,  material  element  to  de- 
clare this,  as  their  words  are  but  signs,  and  are  not 
things  pu»ely  spiritual.  Hence  their  pretence,  to  love 
a  purely  spiritual  religion,  is  a  mere  disguise  for  the 
absence  of  religion. 

Moreover,.-God,  who  is  spiritual,  chose  to  make  him- 
self known  to  man,  not  as  he  is,  a  spirit,  sicuti  est,  but 
in  a  manner  suited  to  man's  nature,  and  hence,  "  he 
fitted  to  himself  a  body,''  and  made  himself  perceptible 
to- the  senses  of  man,  visible,  and  able  to  be  handled  by 
man,  and  to  be  heard  |?y  him,  when  he  should  teach 
him  the  truths  and  practices  of  his  religion.  The  In- 
carnation, or  God  made  man,  is  the  great  fundamental 
fact  of  Christianity.  All,  then,  in  the  religion  of  Jesus 
•Christ,  must  be  in  conformity  and  harmony  with  this 
fact.     Hence,   the  organization  of  a  visible  teaching 

*  John  it     24. 


132  EXTERNAL   WORSHIP. 

i 

church,  informing  the  whole  society  of  persons  who  are 
taught,  and  -who.  believing,  live  according  to 'their  faith. 
Hence,  in  this  society,  the  institution  of  a  great,  and 
pure  external  oblation  or  sacrifice  for  the  worship  of 
God.  Hence,  also,  the  institution  of  certain  principal 
signs,  termed"  sacraments,  visible,  sensible  elements,  but 
differing  from  all  mere  signs,  by  the  fact,  that  the  power 
of  God  has  made  them  the  channels  of  His  divine 
graces,  and  enabled  them  to  convey,  what  they  signify. 
Hence,  finally,  all  the  externals,  the  .forms,  and  cere- 
monies of  religion,  to  serve  as  monitors  of  the  ideal  and 
spiritual,  to  be*the  means  to  inspire  religious  sentiments 
and  emotions,  and  to  give  expression  to  these  not  only 
in  the  sight  of  God,  but  even  of  men  also,  and  thus  to 
constitute  the  bond  of  fellowship  in  the  great  religious 
society  of  God's  church.  In  external  worship,  besides 
the  oblation  of  the  great  sacrifice,  with  its  essential 
ceremonies,  Jesus  Christ  has  himself  instituted  certain 
signs  for  the  application  of  the  graces,  which  he  has 
purchased  for  men,  and  which  are  called  sacraments. 
These'consist  of  outward  sensible  signs  or  ceremonies, 
containing  and  conferring  invisible  graces.  Such  could 
only  be  instituted  by  the  power  of  God.  Besides  these, 
however,  under  the  direction  of  Jes^us  Christ  and  hi£ 
Holy  Spirit,  the  Apostles  and  the  church  hav^e  appoint- 
ed numerous  other  ceremonies  and  signs,  to  signify  and 
express  the  spiritual  things  of  religion,  and  thus  to  keep, 
under  different  circumstances,  before  the  minds  of  men, 
by  appeals  to  their  senses,  the  ideas,  thoughts,  senti- 
ments, and  emotions,  which  pertain  to  God,  their  Sa- 
.viour,  and  lift  up  their  minds  and  hearts  above  the  mere 
material  things  of  time  and  the  world.  Some  of  these 
signs  or  ceremonies  pertain  to  the  more  solemn  oblation 
of  the  sacrifice,  and  administration  of  the  sacraments, 
and  others,  to  minor  offices  and  functions  of  private  and 
public  worship. 

Ceremonies,  considered  apart  from  those  of  greater 
dignity  which  contain  and  confer  grace,  may  be  regard- 
ed in  the  light  of  a  language,  empty  forms,  to  those 
who  know  not  their  meaning,  but  full  of  utility  to  those 


EXTERNA!,   WORSHIP.  133 

acquainted  with  their  signification.  If  the  church  has 
many  ceremonies,  it  is,  because,  enriched  with  spiritual 
gifts  and  ideas,  she  has  much  to  express  to  God  and  to 
her  children.  She  needs  a  copious  language  in  her 
worship,  because  God  has  placed  in  her  the  fountains 
of  salvation,  and  6he  must  converse,  about  these  with 
the  whole  world  of  man,  with  all  the  nations  of  the 
•arth,  and  endeavour  by  all  the  avenues  to  man's  mind 
and  heart;  by  all  the  powers  of  his  soul,  and  by  all  his 
senses,  to  attract  him-  to  the  waters  of  life,  that  he  may 
obtain  refreshment,  and  experience  that  "  a  day  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  is  better  than  a  thousand  years  in 
the  tabernacles  of  sinners."  The  chjjrch,  'therefore, 
like  the  Royal  Prophet,  calling  upon  all  the  creatures 
of  God  to  bless  him,  makes  every  creature,  that  she  is 
able,  tributary  to  the  great  office  which  she  is  commis- 
sioned to  fulfil,  and  uses  every  thing  in  her  service  of 
God,  and,  therefore,  she  devotes  the  whole  man  and  all 
things  to  the  worship  of  God.  She  never  loses  sight 
of  the  spiritual,  nor  does  she  forget  the  fact  that  the 
soul  of  man  acts  through  the  body,  and  is  acted  on 
through  the  senses.  If  she  failed  to  do  this,  men  acted 
upon  constantly  by  this  world,  by  its  spirit  and  its 
maxims,  through  its  forms,  ceremonies,  signs,  and 
images,  would -seldom  or  never  think  of  God,  of  their 
dirty  to  him,  and  of  the  eternal  interests  of  their  souls. 
Those  who  declaim  against  ceremonies  and  forms,  real- 
ly desire  to  destroy  those  things  which  dwell  in  these 
forms,  knowing  that  the  truths  signified  will  soon  per- 
ish from  the  minds  of  men,  when  the  forms  that  signify 
them,  and  are  monitors  thereof  to  men,  are  swept  away. 
As  well  expect  men'  to  be  thinking  beings  without  the 
words  of  a  language,  and  the  images  in  the  mind  of  ex- 
ternal objects,  as  to  hope  that  they  will  have  and  pre- 
serve a  religion,  that  is  destitute  of  external  worship, 
and  without  signs,  ceremonies  and  forms. 


134  THE   SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL, 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF   THE    SACRAMENTS    IN    GENERAL. 

Grace,  which  is  necessary  for  man's  justification,  is 
communicated  to  him  through  the  sacraments.  As  grace 
is  accorded  to  man  in  virtue  of  the  merits  of  Jesus 
Ghrist,  the  sacraments  owe  their  influence  to  His  pas- 
sion and  death  on  the  cross.  They  are  the  authentic 
organs  or  channels  by  which  Jesus  Christ  distributes 
and  applies  his^merits  and  graces.  The  price  was  paict 
on  the  cross,  but  the  application  to  individuals  is  made 
in  the  sacraments.  The  church  teaches  that  all  true 
justice  in  men,  "either  commences  by  means  of  the 
sacraments,  or  .being  commenced  is  increased  bv  them, 
or  being  lost  is  through  them  recovered."  * 

A  sacrament  is  defined :  A  sensible  and  sacred  sign, 
instituted  by  Jesus  Ghrist,  for  the  sanctification  of  tlyj 
souls  of  men  by  his  grace.  To  constitute  a  sacrament 
three  things  are  necessary.  1st.  There  must  be  an 
outward  sign,  of  which  the  senses  may  take  note.  2d. 
This  sign  must  be  appointed  by  Jesus  Christ,  who  only 
could  give  to  it  the  power  to  bestow  grace. 

3dly.  It  must  convey  invisible  grace,  otherwise  it 
might  be  a  sign,  but  not  a  sacrament. 

It  is  of  faith,  that  Jesus  Christ  instituted  sacraments 
in  his  church,  and  that  these  are  precisely  seven  in 
number,  viz  :  Baptism,  Confirmation,  the  Holy  Euchar- 
ist, Penance,  Extreme  Unction,  Jloly  Order,  and  Ma- 
trimony. It  is  of  Faith,  that  these  seven  symbols  not 
only  signify  something  spiritual,  but  actually  of  them- 
selves, where  there  is  no  obstacle  in  the  receiver,  di- 
rectly, immediately,  and  by  their  intrinsic  efficacy,  con- 
fer the  graces  which  they  signify.  In  them,  Jesus 
Christ  has  placed  a  divine  principle,,  and  this  enables 
them  by  its  efficacy  to  produce  grace  in  the  soul.  They 

*  Council  Trent,  Sess.  vii :  Commencement, 


THB    SACRAMENTS    IX    c»KNKK\l..  13o 

do  not  act  merely  in  a  moral  manner,  like  other  signs 
and  ceremonies,  which  awaken  sentiments  of  faith,  con- 
fidence, and  the  like,  but  they  carry  into  the  soul  divine 
grace,  as  channels  conduct  the  waters  that  tlow  through 
them,  and  thus  grape  is  conferred  upon  the  soul  by  the 
application  of  the  external  rites*  or  as  theologians  ex- 
press it,  in  virtue  of  ivhat  is  done,  c.c  opere  operator 
and  these  rites  or  sacraments  do  not  owe  their  efficacy 
in  any  manner,  to  the  administrator  ot  them.  It  is 
suitable  that  the  administrator  of  the  sacraments  should 
be  himself  holy,  but  if  he  be  not,  the  sacraments  ^tre 
not  deprived  of  their  efficacy  which  comes  from  the 
power  of  Jesus  Christ.  So  also,  the  receiver  should 
have  suitable  dispositions,  but  suitable  dispositions  only 
remove  obstacles  to  the  access  of  .God's  grace,  and  do 
not  constitute  an  efficient  cause  of  grace.  They  pre- 
pare the  soul,  and  remove  what  might  prevent  or  retard 
the  effect  of  the  sacraments,  but  do  not  constitute  the 
efficacy  of  the  sacraments,  which  is  intrinsic  in  the 
rites  chosen  by  Jesus  Christ.  The  better  the  disposi- 
tions of  the  receiver,  the  more  abundant  the  grace  re- 
ceived. And  while  the  one  who  administers,  does  not, 
by  his  spiritual  condition,  increase  or  diminish  the  ef- 
ficacy of  the  sacraments,  yet  if  he  dispenses  the  holy 
things  of  God  while  in  the  state  of  sin,  he  is  guilty  of  # 
still  another  sin,  unless  he  be  excused  by  the  gravity 
and  urgency  of  the  -case%  forcing  him  to  administer 
some  of  the  sacraments,  when  not  in  the  state  of 
grace. 

The  sacraments  are  of  two  kinds.  The  first 
class  is  termed  the  sacraments  of  the  dead]  or  sac- 
raments for  such  as  are  dead  in  sin,  and  these  confer 
what  is  termed  the  first  grace,  or  the  life  of  giace. 
These  are  Baptism  and  reliance.  The  second  class 
consists  of  the  other  five  saei  aurents,  which  are  termed 
the  sacraments  of  the  living,  because  those  who  receive 
them  should  be  in  the  state  of  grace,  and  with  them, 
receive  an  increase  of  grace.  They,  ordinarily,  confer 
what  is  termed  second  grace,  though  in  extraordinary 


138       THE  SACRAMENTS  IN  GENERAL. 

cases  and  accidentally,  they  may  sometimes  give  the 
first  grace. 

The  sacraments  have  been  instituted  for  special  ends. 
By  Baptism,  we  "are  born  again."  By  Confirmation, 
we  grow  and  are  strengthened.  By  the  Holy  Euchar- 
ist, we  are  fed  and  nourished.  By  Penance,  we  are 
h%aled  or  cured  of  our  sins.  By  Extreme  Unction,  we 
receive  strength  to  undergo  death  properly.  By  Holy 
Order,  pastors  and  ministers  are  secured  to  the  church. 
By,  Matrimony,  children  are  given  to  the  church.  These 
sacraments  are  the  means  of  conferring  on  the  soul  a 
grace,  appropriate  to  the  end  for  which  each  was  insti- 
tuted, and  which  is  termed  sacramental  grace. 

It  is  of  Faith,  that  three  of  these  sacraments  im- 
print in  the  soul  an  indelible  mark  or  character,  and 
can,  therefore,  be  received  only  once.  These  three  are 
Baptism,  Confirmation,  and  Holy  Order.  The  first 
makes  us  children  of  God  ;  the  second  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  the  third  gives  to  those  who  receive  it  the  char- 
acter of  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  characters, 
unlike  grace,  are  received  by  all  who  voluntarily  receive 
these  sacraments,  whether  they  are  disposed  properly 
or  not.  Of  course,  any  person,  who  has  attained  the 
use  of  reason,  *  who  had  no  wish  to  receive  any  of  these 
sacraments,  or  who  willed  not  to  receive  it,  would  not 
receive  such  sacrament,  nor  its  character,  if  conferred 
against  his  will,  but  only  a,null  and  inyalid  rite.  But 
a  person,  who  thought  there  was  no  efficacy  in  the  sac- 


*  Infants,  having  incurred  the  necessity  of  baptism  without  their 
consent,  are  also  regenerated  by  baptism  without  their  consent, 
since,  according  to  the  order  established  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  church 
supplies  it.  But  for  adults  it  is  different.  Innocent  III.  says  :  "He 
who  never  consents,  but  contradicts  entirely,  neither  rec-eives  the 
character  nor  the  thing  (rem)  of  the  sacrament."  Chop.  Maj.  de 
Bapt.  To  the  validity  of  the  sacrament,  the  true  faith.is  not  neces- 
sary; as  remarked  by  St.  Augustine:  '"It  may  happeu  that  a  man 
has  the  whole  sacrament  and  a  perverse  faith."  Lib.  iii :  De  Bapt. 
The  church  does  not  reiterate  certain  sacraments  received  in  other 
denominations,  as  for  instance,  baptism  or  order,  unless  there  be 
doubt  about  the  value  of  the  rite.  Jf  the  defect  of  faith  rendered 
it  impossible  to  have  the  contrition  necessary  as  a  part  of  penance, 
the  sacrament  would  be  thereby  null. 


THE   SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL.  137 

raments,  and  who  came  forward  hypocritically,  yet  vol- 
untarily presented  himself,  and  acted  publicly  like  other 
recipients,  would  receive  the  character,  though  not  the 
grace  of  the  sacrament. 

Those  persons  who  are  by  Holy  Order  prepared  to 
be  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  bishops  and  priests,  are 
the  ordinary  and  proper  ministers  of  the  sacraments. 
The  bishops  only  are  the  ministers  of  the  sacrament 
of  Holy  Order," and,  except  in  very  extraordinary  cases, 
of  Confirmation  also.  The  bishops  and  the  priests  to- 
gether are  the  ordinary  ministers  of  the  other  sacra- 
ments, though,  of  matrimony,  many  theologians  hold 
that  the  parties  themselves,  under  required  conditions, 
are  the  real  ministers.  But  it  is  held  by  the  church 
that  any  person,  no  matter  of  which  sex,  or  what  his 
religious  belief,  may,  in  all  cases,  validly  confer  the 
sacrament  of  baptism,  and  in  cases  of  necessity,  may 
also  lawfully  administer  this  sacrament,  and  it  is  even 
a  duty  to  do  so.  \  sportive,  or  jocular  administration 
of  these  sacred  rites,  would  only  be  a  profanation. 
There  must  be  in  the  minister  at  least  the  intention  to 
do  what  the  church  does,  or  what  the  author  of  the 
•sacraments  intended.  *  Even  if  the  minister  did  not 
himself  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  the  sacrament,  he 
would  confer  that  sacrament,  supposing  him  otherwise 
qualified  to  administer  it,  if  he  had  the  intention  se- 
riously to  do  that  which  the  church  regards  as  a  sacra- 
ment. The  sacraments  were  instituted  for  all  of  man- 
kind, yet  all  persons  cannot  receive  all  the  sacraments. 
A  woman  is  incapable  of  receiving  Holy  Order;  a  child 
before  it  has  the  use  of  reason,  is  incapable  of  receiv- 
ing the  sacrament  of  Penance ;  and  a  person  in  health 
of  receiving  Extreme  Unction.  'An  infidel  might  re- 
ceive the  Holy  Eucharist,  materially,  but  baptism  is 
necessary  to  fit  a  person  to  receive  the  other  sacra- 
ments, and,  if  unbaptized,  a  man  .would  not  receive  any 
_ ______       -  — 

*  If  any  one  saith,  that,  in  ministers,  when  they  effect  (conficiunt) 
and  confer  the  sacraments,  Uiere  is  not  required  the  intention  at 
least  of  doinij  what  the  churuAi  does;  let  him  be  anathema.  *  Sets. 
•■•.>.  Can.  it,  of  the  sacraments  in  general. 


188  THE   SACRA MENTS   IN    GENERAL. 

thins:  from  them  if  administered  to  him ;  for  baptism 
is  the  door  to  the  rest  of  the  sacraments.  It  is  of 
faith  that  all  the  sacraments  are  necessary  for  salva- 
tion, in  the  arrangement  which  God  has  been  pleased 
to  make  for  saving  men,  but  all  the  sacraments  are  not 
necessary  for  each  person.  Two  of  them,  baptism  and 
penance,  are  absolutely  necessary  for  salvation,  as  the 
necessary  means  ;  baptism  for  the  unbaptized,  and  pen- 
ance for  those  who  have  fallen  into  mortal  sin  after 
baptism.  The  sinner  absolutely  needs  these  sacraments 
and  cannot  be  saved  without  them.  Ei'her  he  must 
receive  them  actually,  or  where  this  is  impossible,  he 
must  have  perfect  charily,  together  with  the  express  or 
implied  desire  to  receive  them,  or  be  purified  by  mar- 
trydom.  The  other  sacraments  are  not  absolutely,  but 
only  morally  necessary — that  is,  they  are  necessary  by 
precept,  for  the  person  who  is  to  receive  them  is  sup- 
posed to  be  already  in  the  state  of  grace,  and  recon- 
ciled with  God,  and  they  are  intended  to  impart  to  him 
an  increase  of  grace  for  some  particular  end.  If,  how- 
ever, any  one,  placed  in  certain  circumstances,  should 
refuse  or  neglect  to  receive  some  of  these  sacraments, 
as,  for  instance;  Confirmation,  Penance,  the  Holy  Eucha- 
rist, when  it  is  possible  for  him  to  receive  them,  he 
would  lose  his  soul  by  refusing  obedience  to  the  divine 
precepts. 

The  sacraments  of  Holy  Order  and  Matrimony  are 
necessary  for  the  church,  for  the  perpetuation  of  the 
priesthood,  and  of  the  society  of  the  faithful,  but  they 
are  not  necessary  for  each  individual.    , 

In  all  the  sacraments  there  must  be  found  certain 
elements  which  compose  them,  and  are  indispensable  to 
their  existence.  These  are  stated- by  Pope  Eugene  IV, 
in  his  decree  to  the  Armenians,  as  follows:  "All  the 
sacuiments  are  composed  of  three  parts:  of  certain 
sensible  things  as  n\a'ter,  of  certain  words  as  form, 
and  of  the  minister  who  confers  thesacrament  with  the 
intention  of  doing  what  the  church  does;  these  three 
things  are  so  essential,  that  if  one  be  wanting,  the  sac- 
rament would  not  exist."     This  declaration  ia   a  state* 


THK  SACRAMENTS   JH   *8HERAL.  189 

ment  of  the  doctrine  of  the  church.  There  must  be 
found  in  that  which  is  a  sacrament  the  proper  matter, 
the  true  form,  and  the  qualified  minister.  These  three 
things,  daring  the  -whole  period  of  the  church,  have 
been  the  necessary  elements  of  the  sacraments,  although 
as  Morinus  thiriks,  the  use  of  these  terms  only  com- 
menced about  the  year  1215,  as  previously,  doctors  and 
theologians  contented  themselves  with  saying,  that  in 
the  sacraments  are  found  the  Sign  and  the  sacred  thing; 
understanding  by  the  name  of  sign,  what  is  perceived 
by  the  senses,  and  by  the  name  of  sacred  thing,  the 
invisible  grace  or  effect  of  the  sacrament.  They  un- 
derstood, as  "tilings  also  required,  that  there  must  be  a 
jit  minister  and  a  proper  subject,  and  consequently,  un- 
der different  terms,  held  the  same  doctrine  as  is  stated 
m  the  declaration  to  the  Armenians,  which  was  not 
only  approved  by  the  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Flor- 
ence, but  afterwards  set  forth  with  the  consent  of  the 
whole  church. 

The  matter  of  the  sacrament,  being  that  which  is  per- 
ceptible to  the  senses,  may  be  found  in  words,  as  well 
as  in  things,  chosen  for  this  end  by  the  author  of  the 
sacraments,  and  it  has  been  his  will  to  use  words  as  the 
sign  or  sensible  thing  in  the  sacraments  of  Penance  and 
Matrimony.  So  also  the  form  is  to  be  found  in  words, 
but  not  as  they  are  merely  signs  or  perceptible  to  the 
sense  of  hearing,  but  in,  the  signification  of  those  words, 
and  in  the  consecrating  force  or  energy  which  the  au- 
thor of  the  sacraments  gives  to  those  words.  Hence  it 
is  said  the  sacraments  consist  of  things  and  words, 
"  The  word,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  is  joined  to  the  el- 
ement and  it  becomes  a  sacrament,"*  "  By  the  words 
'sensible  thing,'  therefore,  the  Fathers  understood  not 
only  the  matter  or  element,  such  as  wator  in  baptism, 
chrism  in  confirmation,  and  oil  in  extreme  unction,  all 
of  which  fall  under  the  eye  ;  but  also  the  words  which 
constitut.  and  whioh  are  addressed  10  the  ear, 

the  Apostle,  when   he  says  : 

*  Aug.  In  Joan,  trecl 


140  THE  SACRAMENTS  IN  &ENSRAL. 

*  Christ  loved  the  church,  and  delivered  himself  for  it, 
that  he  might  sanctify  it,  cleansing  it  by  the  laver  of 
water  in  the  word  of  life.'  (Ephes.  v:  25.)  Here  the 
matter  and  form  of  the  sacrament  are  expressly  men- 
tioned. But  in  order  to  explain,  more  fully  and  clear- 
ly, the  particular  efficacy  of  each,  the  words  which  com- 
pose the  form  were  to  be  added  to  the  matter ;  for  of 
all  signs  words  are  evidently  the  most  significant,  and 
without  them  it  would  be  difficult  to  comprehend  what 
the  matter  of  the  sacraments  may  designate  and  de- 
clare."* So  that  we  see,  while  the  form  is  placed  in 
words,  words  as  signs  may  also  belong  to  the  matter, 
and  the  form  of  words  being  joined  with  the  matter  by 
the  proper  minister,  the  sacrament  exists,  and  the  words 
show  clearly  what  is  the  thing  signified  and  the  grace 
conferred.  .  Each  sacrament  has  its  appropriate  matteV 
and  form  which  constitute  its  substance,  and  as  the  sac- 
raments are  all  of  divine  institution,  the  matter  and 
form  must  have  been  determined  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
things  and  the  words  necessary  for  the  sacraments  have 
been  at  all  times  necessary  from  their  institution,  and 
if  not  specially,  at  least  in  a  general  way,  must  have 
been  indicated  by  the  Saviour  to  his  Apostles,  and  by 
them  delivered  to  the  church. 

The  principal  ceremonies  with  which  the  sacraments 
are  solemnly  administered,  considered  apart  from  those 
which  pertain  to  the  essence  and  are  of  divine  institu- 
tion, have  been  nearly  all  used  in  the  church  from  the 
very  days-  of  the  Apostles.  They  are  designed  as  a 
protection  to  that  which  is  essential ;  and  in  order  to 
instruct  Christians  as  to  the  deplorable  condition  to 
which  they  were  reduced  by  sin,  and  from  which  they 
are  rescued  by  the  grace  of  God ;  and  to  impress  them 
with  sentiments  of  gratitude  for  the  favors  which  they 
receive,  and  teach  them  how  they  should  deport  them- 
selves in  their  union  of  life  with  Jesus  Christ. 

The  great  ends  for  which  the  Son  of  God  became  in- 
carnate, being  the  salvation  of  men  to  be  effected  by 

•  Cat.  Couuc.  Trent.  Tart.  2d  on  the  Sacraments. 


THE    SACRAMENTS    IN    GENERAL.  141 

the  immolation  of  Himself  as  victim,  and  b y  the  applica- 
tion to  individuals  of  the  merits  of  His  passion  and 
death,  through  graces  that  Avould  cleanse  and  sanctify 
and  OH  them  for  the  friendship  of  God,  and  for  union 
with  Him  during  eternity,  the  sacraments  were  institu- 
ted as  symbols  and  channels  of  divine  grace.  Their  final 
end,  therefore,  is  eternal  union  with  God.  Man  was 
entirely  vitiated  and  depraved,  that  is  to  say,  in  his  in- 
tellect, in  his  heart,  and  in  his  senses,  or  his  body,  and 
it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Saviour  to  restore  him  in  all 
the  parts  of  his  being,  and  not  only  to  unite  his  intel- 
lect with  him  by  faith,  and  his  heart  by  charity,  but 
also  to  take  possession  of  his  body,  by  that  ineffable 
mystery  known  as  Holy  Communion,  in  which  the  in- 
carnate God  condescends  to  become  one  with  the  Chris- 
tian in  the  strictest  possible  union,  by  making  him 
"'participator  of  the  divine  nature."*  He  wishes  the 
Christian  to  be  able  truly  to  say  with  the  Apostle: 
"And  I  live,  now  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."f 
"In  the  Eucharist,"  says  Bossuet,  "the  Son  of  God, 
taking  the  flesh  of  each  of  us,  communicates  to  our  be- 
ing the  divine  qualities  of  his  own,  and  thus  attains  the 
final  end  of  religion  on  earth."  Hence  St.  Thomas  re- 
marks :  "  The  Eucharist  is  as  the  consummation  of  spir- 
itual life,  and  the  end  of  all  .the  sacraments.  "|  For,  he 
tells  us :  "  All  the  sacraments  have  reference  to  the 
Eucharist;  Baptism  renders  us  capable  of  the  Eucha- 
ristic  union  ;  confirmation  maintains  it,  or  makes  us 
more  worthy  of  it ;  Penance  effaces  sin,  which  disrupts 
it,  and  replaces  us  in  a  condition  to  contract  the  alli- 
ance again  ;  Extreme  Unction,  the  admirable  supple- 
ment of  Penance,  removes  all  obstacles  that  might  pre- 
vent it,  or  finishes  to  consolidate  it  at  the  hour  of 
death  ;  Order  and  Matrimony  perpetuate  it,  by  perpet- 
uating the  church,  that  is,  the  priests  who  keep  Jesus 
Christ  ever  present  on  the  earth,  and  the  faithful  who 
receive  him."  §     For  this  end  is  all  else  in  religion  de- 

•  2  Pet.  i:  4.     f  Gal.  ii :  20.     %  St.  Thorn.  Part  III.  quest.  73,  Art. 
3.    §  Ibid,  in  loco.  cit. 


\±-l  'IHK    SACHAiiSXTS    IS  GENERAL. 

signed,  to  unite  men  to  God  in  the  church,  that  after 
death  they  may  be  united  with  him  during  eternity. 

How  noble  therefore  are  the  sacraments!  To  wiiat 
a  dignity  do  they  elevate  man,  if  lie  properly  appreci- 
ate and  use  them!  And  who  can  estimate  their  influ- 
ence upon  the  individual  and  upon  society  ?  The  mise- 
ries and  disorders  in  society,  the  crimes  and  horrors, 
which  render  the  history  of  humanity  so  dark  and  re- 
volting, may,  in  its  ultimate  reason,  be  found  in  man's 
want  of  proper  respect  for  himself  and  for  his  fellow 
men.  A  proper  respect  for  oneself  prevents  self  deg- 
radation, and  in  consequence  ■  protects  the  rights  and 
dignity  of  others.  •  But  when  man  ceases  to  care  for 
himself,  he  readily  sinks  into  every  meanness  and  dis- 
grace, and  respects  no  rights  or  interests  in  his  fellow 
men,  but  even  seems  to  have  a  malignant  pleasure  in 
bringing  others  down  to  the  level  of  his  own  degradation.. 
When  you  know  that  any  one  has  ceased  to  respect  or 
care  for  himself,  you  are  no  longer  astonished  to  learn 
that  he  has  been  guilty  of  any  possible  wickedness. 

But  fallen  man  is  restored  by  religion,  and  the  es- 
sence of  religion  is  man's  redemption  by  the  Passion 
and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  merits  of  which  are 
given  to  individuals  through  faith,  hope,  charity,  and 
the  sacraments.  Man  is  rescued  from  the  state  of  sin 
and  condemnation,  is  washed,  cleansed,  and  signed  as 
child  of  God,  is  told  that  he  is  heir  of  heaven,  is  per- 
mitted to  live  on  "the  bread  of  Angels,"  and  taught 
to  restrain  his  passions,  contemn  perishable  and  transi- 
tory goods  and  pleasures,  and  aspire  to  the  glory  and 
happiness  of  God's  kingdom.  Called  child  of  God,  he 
is  admonished  to  become  holy  like  to  his  Father,  holy 
in  mind,  holy  in  heart,  h  <ly  in  the  senses  of  the  body, 
which  are  signed,  anointed,  and  blessed  by  the  sacra- 
ments. His  dignity  is  thus  revealed  to  him,  he  is  taught 
to  respect  himself,  and  in  all  the  circumstances  of  his 
life  to  act  consistently  with  his  dignity  of  character  as 
co-heir  with  Jesus  Christ. 

Sacraments'  have  been  provided  by  the   Saviour  in 
number  to  suit  the  needs  of  men.     This  ia  the  reason, 


THE   SACRAMENTS    IN    GENERAL. 

so  beautifully  given  by  the  author  of  frhe  catechism  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  why  they  are  precisely  seven  in 
number.  "Why  they  are  neither  more  nor  less,"  he 
writes,  "may  be  shown,  at  least  with  some  degree  of 
probability,  even  from  the  analogy  that  exists  between 
natural  and  spiritual  life.  In  order  to  exist,  to  pre- 
serve existence,  and  to  contribute  to  his  own  and  the 
public  good,  seven  things  seem  necessary  to  man — to 
be  born— to  grow — to  be  nurtured — to  be  cured  when 
sick — when  weak  to  be  strengthened — as  far  as  regards 
the  public  weal,  to  have  magistrate?  invested  with  au- 
thority to  govern — and  finally  to  perpetuate  himself  and 
his  species  by  legitimate  offspring.  Analogous  then  as 
all  tliese  things  obviously  are,  to  that  life  by  which  the 
soul  lives  to  God,  we  discover  in  them  a  rea.^on  for  the 
number  of  the  sacraments."  The  author  then  proceeds 
to  exhibit,  how  by  Baptism,  man  is  born  again  to  Christ; 
by  confirmation,  grows  and  is  strengthened  in  the  grace 
of  God ;  by  the  Holy  Eucharist,  is  fed  and  nourished 
unto  eternal  life;  by  Penance,  is  cured  of  his  spiritual 
wounds ;  by  Extreme  Unction,  is  invigorated  and 
cleansed  even  from  any  remaining  traces  of  sin  ;  how 
by  Holy  Order,  ministers  are  provided  for  administer- 
ing the  sacraments  and  performing  all  sacred  functions 
in  the  church  ;  and  finally,  how  by  the  sacrament  of 
Matrimony',  the  union  of  man  and" woman  is  made  holy 
for  the  conservation  of  the  human  race,  antr*  the  educa- 
tion of  children  in  the  knowledge  of  religion,  and  the 
love  and  fear  of  God.* 

The  reason  why  our  Lord  attached  these  grnces  to 
sensible  signs,  is  in  harmony  with  that  which  induced 
him  to  make  himself  visible  to  man  by  assuming  the 
human  nature.  It  is  the  nature  of  man,  composed  of 
body  as  well  as  soul,  that  rendered  it  necessary  for  him 
to  have  a  religion,  not  purely  spiritual,  but  also  sensible 
abd  external;  that  his  whole  being  might  be  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  his  creator.  And,  in  his  fallen  condi- 
tion, his  intellect  had  become  so  deeply  subjected  to  his 

*  Cat.  Counc.  Trent,  Part  2d,  on  the  Sacraments. 


144  THE  SACRAMENTS  IN  GENERAL. 

senses  that  he  seemed  to  know  and  believe  nothing  but 
what  he  could  see,  touch,  or  in  some  way  grasp  by 
his  senses.  He  had,  as  it  w'ere,  become  carnalized. 
In  this  condition  he  was  to  be  sought  by  the  divine  re- 
storer, and  elevated  to  a  high  spiritual  destiny.  And 
through  the  senses,  he  had  to  be  conducted  from  dark- 
ness into  light,  from  the  carnal  to  the  spiritual,,  from 
the  visible  to  the  invisible,  from  ignorance  unto  the  ev- 
idence of  faith,  and  from  faith  to  intelligence- of  super- 
natural things.  His  physical  life  depends  upon  the  ar- 
ticles of  his  food,  his  intellectual  life  upon  the  signs  of 
thought,  upon  spoken  and  written  language,  and  his 
religious  or  spiritual  life  is  made  to  depend  upon  the 
divinely  instituted  sacramental  signs,  which  signify  and 
bestow  divine  grace,  which  is  the  life  of  his  soul.  To 
his  religious  life,  the  sacraments  are  as  necessary,  as  is 
language  to  his  intellectual  life,  or  food  to  his  physical 
existence.  He  can  despise  them  only  at  his  peril,  for 
without  them  he  can  neither  become  the  child  of  God, 
nor  secure  a  title  to  eternal  life.  It  is  then  a  proof  as 
well  of  "the  divine  wisdom,  as  of  the  mercy  of  God,  that 
he  has  given  to  man,  means,  for  securing  eternal  happi- 
ness, that  are  in  entire  harmony  with  his  nature  and 
his  wants,  and  means  the  more  in  harmony  with  the 
omnipotence,  which  operates  the  greatest  wonders 
"with  the  weak  and  little  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  strong,"*  because,  to  profit  by  them,  men  are 
compelled  to  conquer  their  pride,  and  subject  them- 
selves in  submissive  obedience  to  God's  authority  and 
will. 

We  have  already  manifested  that  these  sacraments 
are  not  all  of  equal  necessity.  Baptism,  Penance,  and 
Holy  Order  are  of  paramount  necessity,  but  from  dif- 
ferent causes.  Neither  are  these  sacraments  all  of 
equal  dignity  and  excellence.  This  is  a  dogma  of  faith 
defined  by  the  church. f  With  respect  to  .their  dignity, 
it  is  to  be  held  that  the  Holy  Eucharist,  for  its  holi- 
ness, and  for  the  number  and  greatness  of  its  myste- 

*  1  Cor.  i :  27.    f  Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  YII.  Can.  3. 


OF  BAPTISM.  146 

ries,  is  eminently  superior  to  all  the  rest.  In  the  order 
usually  observed,  our  attention  will  be  directed  to  the 
consideration  of  each  of  these  sacraments  separately. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OP  BAPTISM — ITS  MATTER  AND  FORM — ITS  NECESSITY — 
ITS  EFFECTS — ITS  MINISTER — OF  THE  MODE  OF  BAP- 
TISM— ITS   CEREMONIES. 

Baptism  is  the  first  sacrament  to  be  received.  It  is 
"  the  door  of  spiritual  life."*  The  word  signifies  ablu- 
tion or  immersion,  and  comes  from  the  Greek  baptizo. 
The  purification  of  the  body  by  water  is  a  fit  symbol 
of  the  purification  of  the  soul.  Baptism  may  be  de- 
fined :  "A  sacrament  of  the  new  law,  instituted  for  ef- 
facing original  sin  and  regenerating  us  in  Jesus  Christ;" 
or  as  given  in  the  catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent : 
"  The  sacrament  of  regeneration  by  water  in  the 
word."  m 

Of  the  Matter  and  Form  of  Baptism. 

The  last  of  the  above  definitions  indicates  the  matter 
and  form  of  this  sacrament,  and  the  new  birth  into  the 
life  of  grace.  All  natural  water  is  the  matter  of  this 
sacrament,  and  artificial  waters  or  other  liquids  are  of 
no  avail,  for  it.  Our  Saviour  says  :  "  Unless  any  one 
is  born  again  of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  cannot 
enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. "f  His  words  are 
precise,  and  the  necessity  of  using  natural  water  clear- 
ly enjoined.  The  form,  in  the  words  to  be  used,  has . 
been  indicated  by  our  Saviour  in  his  command :  "  to 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 

•  Eug.  iv:  Decree  for  the  Armenians.     fJoh"  iii :  5. 

7 


146  •  OF   BAPTISM. 

Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost/'* 
Therefore  the  form  is :  "I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
as  used  by  the  Catholic 'Church,  -which  in  substance  is 

the  same  with  that  used  by  the  Greeks  :   "  N is 

baptized  by  our  hands  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Bon,  a?.  I  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  express  and 
distinct  invocation  of  the  three  persons  of  the  holy 
Trinity  is  absolutely  necessary,  tin'  holy  Trinity  being 
the  principal  cause  from  which  the  virtue  of  baptism 
proceeds.  The  minister  must  indicate  himself  as  the 
instrumental  ad  also  indies  ibject  who- is 

baptized.  All  these  arc  found  in  the  form  :  u  I  baptize 
thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Necessity  of  Baptism. 

The  gospel  of  St.  Mathew  records  the  commission 
-which  our  Lord  gave  to  his  Apostles,  to  teach  all  na- 
tions the  doctrines  which  He  had  delivered  to  them, 
and  to  unite  them  to  liis  church  and  to  himself  ^ as  its 
head,  by  "baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Ben,  and^f  the  Holy  Ghost." t  The  com- 
mand is  so  plain,  and  tl*  declaration  so  precise  that 
those  will  be  condemned  who  will  not  believe  the  gos- 
pel;  "he  that  believefth  not  shall  be  condemned — "% 
that  is,  those  who  will  not  be  instructed,  and  enter  by 
baptism  into  obedience  to  Chri.^t  and  union  with  Him, 
will  be  condemned  ;  and  it  is  also  so  plainly  -aid  :  "  I  n- 
any  one  is  born  again  of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
hi'  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  ~  that  it  is 
most  extraordinary  that  any  person,  who  believes  in  the 
Christian  religion,  should  denj  »lute  necessity  of 

baptism.  It  is  true,  Christians  of  all  denominations 
do  not  object  to  term  baptism  a  sacrament,  but  many 
attach  no  great  importance  to  it  even  as  a  thing  sacred, 
and  most  of  them   do   not   admit  that  it  is  absolutely 


•  Math,  xxviii :  15.  f  -Math,  xaviii  :  19.  JMarkxvi:  16.    $Ji>)mi 
iii :  5. 


or  bapzisjt  147 

necessary  for  salvation.     It  is  of  faith,  that  it  is  ah 
lutely  necessary  for  salvation  since  the  pro  n  of 

the  Q-ogpeL      This  necessity  extends  to  all  persons,  to 
infants  as  well  as  adults.     The  church  only  recognizes 
two  exceptional  cases,  in  which  the  want  of  actual  bap- 
tism is  supplied,  when  it  is  impossible  to  receive  it,  and 
these  cases  suppose   at  least  an  implicit  desire  to  re- 
ceive it.     The  first  case  is,  where  a  person,  not  being 
able  to  receive  baptism  actually,  is  at  the  point  of  death, 
and  has   the  grace  of  perfect  charity,  with  sorrow  for 
his  sins,  and  a  desire  to  receive  the  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism. Many  theologians  consider  that  this  desire  should 
be  explicit.,  others  think  that  an  implicit  desire  will  suf- 
fice, but  this   is  not  certain  ;  and  far  less  probable  is 
that  opinion,  which  some  have  held,  that  such  implicit 
desire  may  possibly  be  found  in  those  who  bona  fide  re- 
fuse baptism,  thinking   falsely  that  it  is  only  some  sort 
of  spiritual  baptism  by  fire  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  is 
pleasing  to  God,  and  yet  are  disposed  to  do  all  that 
God  requires.     If  such  a  case  may  have  existed,  there 
is  no  means  by  which  men  can  determine  whether  the 
person  secured  salvation,  but  judgment  thereon  is  with 
Him,  who  declared  that  regeneration  by  water  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  necessary.     An  actual  desire  to  comply 
with  the  law,  when  it  is  not  possible  to  do  so,  is  accept- 
ed by  God  for  the  act,  but  it  seems  a  difficult,  if  not  an 
impossible  thing,  for  such  a  desire   to  exist  simulta- 
neously with  an  actual  rejection  of  baptism:    The  per- 
fect charity  which  should  be  found  with  this  desire  is 
an  extraordinary  grace,  and  places  the  person  in  a  con- 
dition of  friendship  and  reconciliation  with  God,  and 
is  a  disposition  to  do  the  holy  will  of  God  in  all  things, 
and  to  detest  and  avoid  all  that  gives  Him  offence  and 
displeasure.     This  reconciliation,  without  baptism  ac- 
tually received,  is  termed  the  baptism  of  desire,  or  bap- 
tisma  flaminis,  and  is   a  compliance  with   the  law  of 
baptism,  as  far  as   possible  in  the  circumstances.     In 
the  first  centuries,   when  the   church  subjected  cate- 
chumens  to  such   a  long  probation  before  admitting 
them  to  baptism,  such  cases  might  and  -did  frequently 


148  OF  BAPTISM. 

arise,  and  have  happened,  and  no  doubt  do  still  occur, 
in  our  own  times,  but  it  is  very  perilous  for  persons  to 
neglect  baptism  when  in  their  power  to  receive  it,  under 
a  notion  that  its  benefits  may  be  thus  supplied  to  them  at 
their  last  moments.  In  the  judgment  of  God,  so  inscru- 
table, they  may  be  deprived  of  the  grace  of  repentance 
and  charity,  afld  their  desire  prove  vain  and  insufficient.* 
The  second  exceptional  case,  in  which  the  want  of 
actual  baptism  is  supplied,  is  martyrdom  for  the  sake 
of  Jesus  Christ :  "  He  that  loseth  his  life  for  me  shall 
find  it."f  This  is  an  act  of  perfect  faith  and  heroic 
devotion,  the  giving  up  of  all  things  from  love  of  God; 
an  act  of  perfect  charity,  and  includes  a  disposition  to 
obey  God  in  all  that  he  requires.  It  is  entirely  differ- 
ent from  the  suffering  of  death  because  of  pride  of 
opinion,  of  which  among  heretics  there  have  been  ex- 
amples, and  which  are  tributes  paid  by  men  to  their  own 
reason  and  courage,  and  not  acts  of  devotion  and  love 
to  Jesus  Christ  from  the  promptings  of  faith.  In  times 
of  persecution,  many  were  called  by  martyrdom  to  sal- 
vation and  the  crown  of  glory,  by  miiaculous  and  sud- 
den conversions,  when  witnessing  the  death  of  other 
martyrs,  and,  having  no  possibility  of  baptism,  desired 
to  do  all  that  God  required  through  his  church,  and,  in 
their  own  blood,  were  washed,  cleansed,  baptized. 
Hence,  this  is  called  the  baptism  of  blood,  baptisma 
sanguinis.  With  these  exceptions,  the  law  rests  upon 
all  who  have  had  the  opportunity  to  know  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  who  are  required  "  to  believe  and  be 
baptized,"  or  as  St.  Peter  exhorts  :  They  have  to  "  do 
penance  and  be  baptized,  each  one,  for  the  remission  of 

*  Those  who,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church,  presented  them- 
selves to  be  received,  were  placed  under  instruction,  and  called 
Catechumens,  of  whom  there  were  three  classes.  Their  time  of 
probation  was  for  eight  months,  one  year,  two  years,  and  even,  in 
some  parts,  three  years.  They  had  their  special  sponsors  to  see  to 
their  instruction,  besides  the  catechists,  and  were  allowed  to  be 
present  at  the  first  pan  of  the  mass,  and  until  after  the  sermon. 
Their  lives  were  the  subject  of  great  scrutiny.  When  persecutions 
raged,  the  term  of  their  probation  was  abridged,  and  baptism  given 
sooner.     fMath.  x:   30,  and  J*ark  viii :  3C>. 


OF  BArTISM.  149 

their  sins."*     And  it  is  a  law  which  reaches  even  to 
those  who  are  yet  unable  to  know  and  believe  the  gos- 
pel; it  extends  to  infants,  from  the  moment  of  their  en- 
trance into  this  world,  because  they  come  into  the  world 
as  "children  of  wrath,"  having  the  stain  and  guilt  of 
original  sin,  and  being  in  a  state  of  separation  from 
God,  and  subjected  to  the   sentence  of  temporal  and 
eternal  death,  which  God  decreed  against  all  the  pos- 
terity of  the   first  transgressors  of  his  commandment 
and  will,  and,  notwithstanding  the  passion  and  death  of 
Him  who  died  for  all,  they  must  remain  in  this  state  of 
separation  from  God,  until  they  receive  the  inestimable 
blessing  of  a  new  birth,  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Those  who  consult  only  their  pride  of  reason,  and 
are  unwilling  to   accept  the  teachings  of  faith,  reject 
the  doctrine  of  original  sin;  and  those  who  merely  con- 
sult their  sensibility  and  their  false  notion  of  the  inno- 
cence of  infants,  think  it  cruel  to  suppose  that  they  do 
not  go  immediately  to  heaven,  even  though  dying  with- 
out baptism.     Infants  are  innocent  of  all  actual  trans- 
gression of  God's  law  and  of  all  actual  sin;  but  because 
of  that  solidarity  of  the  race,  which  God  has  made  a 
law,  they  are  held  to  be  guilty,  and  will  inherit  the  con- 
sequences of  that  guilt  in  an  eternal  separation  from 
God,  if  parents  will  not  suffer  them  to  come  to  God  by 
that  spiritual  birth,  which  he  has  provided  for  them  in 
the  waters  of  baptism.     It  is  not  merely  the  first  par- 
ents who  incurred  the  taint  and  forfeiture  from  rebel- 
lion against  the  sovereign,  but  the  whole  family  of  man 
is  under  the  attainder  and  reached  by  the  confiscation, 
and  the  door  of  restoration  is  thrown  open  on  condition, 
of  being  "born  of  God,"f  through  the  infusion  of  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  by  the  channel  of  baptism.    The 
Saviour  wishes  little  children  to  come  to  him,  and  de- 
clares that  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  God,  but  he  re- 
cognizes it  to  be   in   the  power  of  others  to  allow  or 
prevent  it :  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the   Kingdom  of 

*  Ads  ii  :  38,    tJoh"  i  :  *&• 


150  OP  BAPTISM. 

God."  *  They  can  "  suffer  them  to  come,"  by  bringing 
them  to  the  waters  of  baptism;  they  can  prevent  or  "  for- 
bid them,"  by  neglecting  to  secure  this  blessing  for 
them  from  their  own  indifference  or  unbelief,  but  they 
cannot,  hj  their  opinions,  change  the  law,  which  he  has 
made,  requiring  them  to  be  born  again.  Just  as  the 
infidel  sneers  at  the  idea  of  all  the  consequences  of 
original  sin  being  the  result  of  "eating  an  apple,"  they 
say,  what  need  for  the  use  of  a  little  water  by  sprink- 
ling, pouring,  ©r  immersion?  What  difference  can  such 
a  ceremony  make  in  the  destiny  of  man  for  eternity  ? 
As  if  obedience  to  God's  positive  command  were  nqt  a 
thing  of  supreme  importance,  and  a  refusal  to  obey,  a 
rebellion  against  the  sovereign  will  of  God.  It  is  rea- 
sonable to  ask,  if  God  gave  such  a  command,  and  im- 
posed such  a  condition,  but  it  is  very  unreasonable  to 
say,  that  any  thing  he  has  commanded  is  not  of  utility, 
not  necessary,  or,  because  we  do  not  see  its  utility,  to 
conclude  that,  therefore,  God  did  not  command  it. 

If,  according  to  revelation,  we  declare  that  the  re- 
demption by  Jesus  Christ  was  necessary  in  order  to 
rescue  mankind  from  sin  and  hell,  an  infidel  may  not 
see  this  necessity,  and  in  his  opinion,  may  suppose  that 
men  could  equally  as  well  escape  sin  and  hell  without 
such  redemption.  If  we  declare  that  it  is  of  faith,  that 
the  merits  of  this  redemption  must  be  applied  to  men 
by  means  of  faith  and  the  sacraments,  a  deist  may  not 
see  the  necessity  of  any  such  application,  and  suppose 
that  men  can  go  to  heaven  without  it,  and  even  those  who 
claim  to  be  Christians,  may  suppose  that  Jesus  Christ 
lias  done  all  for  them,  and  that  they  can  obtain  all 
merely  by  putting  their  confidence  in  him,  without  trou- 
bling themselves  about  points  of  faith  or  the  church. 
Also,  many  maybe  of  opinion  that  not  only  unbapti&cd 
infants  are  received  into  union  with  God  and  enjoy  eter- 
nal beatitude,  but  also  that  it  is  a  very  illiberal  and  hart  h 
creed  which  declares  that  they  cannot  enter  the  king- 
dom of  God.     But  there  remains  the  revelation  of  God, 

*Mark  s  :  1 1. 


OF   BAPTISM.  1)1 

saying,  .that  "there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven 
given  to  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved,"  than  that  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  no  salvation  except  on  the 
conditions  he  imposes,  of  which  hefiias  declared  that 
one  is,  a  new  birth  by  water  and  the (Holy  Ghost. 

The  church  has  always  understood  that  this  law  ex- 
tends to  infants  as  well  as  to  adults.  Two  (Ecumeni- 
cal Councils  have  expressed  themselves  clearly  on  this 
point,  viz  :  the  second  Council  of  Lyons,  and  the  Coun- 
cil of  Florence ;  the  latter,  in  the  decree  for  union, 
taking  the  words  found  in  the  confession  of  Faith  of 
Michael  Palaeologus  made  in  the  first  named  council, 
in  the  name  of  the  Greek  church:  " We  believe  that 
the  souls  of  those  who  die  in  mortal  sin,  or  only  in  origi- 
nal sin,  descend  forthwith  to  hell,  to  be  punished  how- 
ever with  unequal  punishments,"  or  pains,  poenis  tamen 
dixparibus  puniendas.  It  is  then  of  faith  that  unbap- 
tized  infants  go  to  hell,  and  it  is  also  of  faith  that  their 
punishment  is  unequal  to  what  is  inflicted  on  adult  sin- 
ners. Unbaptized  infants  arc  therefore  lost  because  of 
original  sin,  and  from  not  having  been  born  again  by 
baptism.  As  to  what  place  in  hell  they  hold,  or  what 
aro  the  pains  they  have  to  endure,  or  precisely  what 
constitutes  the  disparity  of  their  pains  as  compared 
with  those  of  adult  sinners,  the  decree  does  not  say, 
and  nothing  has  been  proposed  as  of  faith.  Theolo- 
gians agreeing,  as  faith  requires,  that  thoy  are  excluded 
from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  deprived  of  the  vision 
and  enjoyment  of  God,  discuss  the  question  whether 
these  unbaptized  infants  suffer  the  pains  of  sense,  that 
is  whether  besides  the  loss  of  God  and  of  eternal  beati- 
tude, they  suffer  from  the  fires  of  hell,  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels,  and  awarded  by  the  justice  of 
God  as  the  portion  of  voluntary,  unrcpenting  sinners. 
Some,  with  St.  Augustine  and  other  fathers,  have  held 
the  opinion  that  they  do  suffer  something  of  the  pains 
of  sense,  but  that  their  suffering  is  the  mil  do  at  and 
slightest  of  all.  Others,  with  St.  Gregory  Kazianzen 
and  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  have  held  that  their  pain  is 
only  that  of  the  loss  of  God  and  privation  of  heaven, 


152  OF  BAPTISM. 

And,  even  among  those  who  thought  their  punishment 
only  consisted  of  the  loss  of  God  and  heaven,  there 
were  different  opinions  as  to  how  they  are  affected  hy 
this  loss.  Some,,juth  Bellarmine,  thinking  that  they 
are  afflicted  with  a  certain  sadness  arising  from  the  pri- 
vation of  the  beatific  vision,  while  others,  with  St. 
Thomas,  deny  that  they  suffer  sadness  from  such  priva- 
tion. The  opinion  of  some,  with  Sfrondratus,  held  that 
they  are  in  a  condition  of  natural  happiness.  This  last 
opinion  others  have  incorrectly  classed  with  the  error 
of  the  Pelagians,  while  it  is  very  different,  since  Sfron- 
datus,  and  those  of  his  way  of  thinking,  taught  that 
these  children,  though  having  a  kind  of  natural  felici- 
ty, really  suffered  the  pain  of  loss,  or  underwent  dam- 
nation because  of  original  sin,  while  the  Pelagian  error 
attributed  this  natural  beatitude,  to  infants  dying  un- 
baptized,  as  the  natural  condition  #of  these  infants,  ex- 
cluding the  belief  of  the  death  of  sin,  and  the  belief 
that  the  privation  of  the  vision  of  God  is  damnation. 
Therefore,  Pope  Pius  VI.  in  his  dogmatic  constitution, 
Auctorem  fidei,  has  declared  that  it  is  false  and  rash  to 
pretend  to  confound  with  the  error  of  the  Pelagians, 
the  opinion,  which  frees  from  the  pains  of  hell  fire, 
those  who  die  without  baptism,  and  guilty  only  of  orig- 
inal sin.  But  opinions  may  exist  where  the  church  has 
not  defined,  and  the  church  has  only  to  defend  what 
she  teaches.  Persons  are  free  to  consider  existence  'a 
blessing  to  those  unbaptized  infants,  although  from  not 
being  baptized,  they  are  deprived  of  that  which  cannot 
be  estimated.  They  may,  with  St.  Thomas,  consider 
them  as  having  certain  natural  goods  and  a  sort  of  nat- 
ural love  for  God,  and  gladness,  without  suffering  any 
pains  of  sense.  But  they  must  receive  the  teaching  of 
the  church,  viz:  that  they  are  excluded  from  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  supernatural  beatitude  forever. 

"If,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "you  wish  to  be  a  Catho- 
lic, do  not  believe,  do  not  say,  do  not  teach,  that  in- 
fants, who  die  before  being  baptized,  can  obtain  the  re- 
mission of    original   sin;"*  and  elsewhere  he  writes:     < 

•Lib.  iii.  de  Orig.  Animas. 


OF   BAPTISM.  158 

"  Whoever  says,  that  infants  themselves  are  made  alive 
in  Jesus  Christ,  when  they  die  without  having  partaken 
of  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  opposes  directly  all  that 
the  Apostles  have  preached:  he  condemns  the  whole 
church,  in  which  they  hasten  to  baptize  little  infants, 
because  they  believe  that  these  infants  cannot  otherwise 
have  life  in  Jesus  Christ."*  Moreover,  it  has  always 
been  the  practice  of  the  church  to  baptize  infants  im- 
mediately after  their  birth  ;  which  shows  her  belief  that, 
because  of  original  sin,  they  could  not  enter  into  hea- 
ven, if  they  should  die  without  baptism. f  Where  the 
gospel  has  not  been  promulgated,  and  the  law  of  bap- 
tism could  not  be  known,  persons  cannot  be  in  any 
worse  condition  than  men  were  before  the  establishment 
of  Christianity,  but  must  have  the  same  possibility  and 
means  of  salvation  as  they  had,  but  it  is  the  office  of 
the  church  to  let  all  persons  know  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  baptism  wherever  she  promulgates  the  gospel 
of  salvation,  and  she  announces  this  necessity  in  dis- 
tinct terms.  How  criminal  then  are  parents  who  delay 
or  neglect  altogether  the  baptism  of  their  children,  and 
how  foolish  the  persons  who,  despising  this  condition  of 
salvation,  even  though  they  have  read  and  heard  the 
express  words  of  Jesus  Christ  that :  "  unless  a  person 
is  born  again  of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost  he  cannot 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  live  and  die  without 
caring  to  receive  this  sacrament ! 

Infants  can  receive  baptism,  which  removes  the  stain 
of  sin  from  their  souls,  just  as  they  received  the  stain 
of  sin  without  any  co-operation'  of  their  own ;  but 
adults,  or  those  who  have  sufficient  reason,  must  wish 
and  consent  to  be  baptized  in  order  to  receive  the  sac- 
rament validly.  To  obtain  its  fruits  they  must  have  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  the  principal  truths  of  religion, 
and  entertain  sentiments  of  faith,  of  hope,  of  contrition 
for  their  sins,  and  some  commencement  of  charity,  or 
the  love  of  God. 

*  Letter  OLXVI.  J  Co  uric.  Trent,  Sess.  VII,  Can.  V. 


154  OF   BAPTISM. 


Of  the  Effects  of  Baptism. 

The  chief  effects  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism  are 
the  grace  which  regenerates  us  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  character  "which  this  sacrament  imprints  on  the 
soul.  The  effect  of  the  sanctifying  grace,  given  in 
baptism,  is  the  effacing  of  all  sin,  original  and  actual, 
and  the  remission  of  all  penalty  due  to  sin,  with  the 
infusion  of  virtues  and  spiritual  gifts.* 

Sanctifying  Grace  the  First  Effect  of  Baptism. 

This  sacrament  confers  sanctifying  grace  on  those 
who  receive  it  worthily,  purifying  them  from  all  past  ac- 
tual sins  as  well  as  from  original  sin,  and  rendering 
them  agreeable  to  God.  Besides  effacing  all  previous 
sins,  it  removes  all  the  penalty  or  spiritual  pains  due 
to  those  sins.  The  sanctifying  grace  received  in  bap- 
tism is  accompanied  with  the  infused  virtues  and  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  there  is  also  given  the  sacra- 
mental grace,  which  strengthens  the  soul  to  combat 
concupiscence,  and  fulfill  the  obligations  of  the  Chris- 
tian. But  ignorance,  concupiscence,  subjection  to  the 
miseries  of  life,  and  to  temporal  death,  are  not  removed 
by  baptism.  _ 

Of  the  Character — The  Second  Effect  -if  Baptism. 

The  character,  imparted  by  baptism,  is  an  indelible 
mark  or  invisible  spiritual  sign,  which  is  as  it  were  the 
seal  of  the  children  of  God.  To  this  the^postle  re- 
fers, in  writing  to  the  Ephesians  :  "  in  whom  (Christ) 
you  also  believing,  you  were  signed  with  the  Holy  Spir- 
it of  promise. "f  And  again :  "Grieve  not  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God,  whereby  you  are  sealed  unto  the  day  of 
redemption."];  The  sign  tfeing  indelible,  baptism  can 
only  be  received  once.     We   can  cease  to  be  worthy 

*  See  Counc.  Ttent,  Sess.  V.  No.  0,  on  Orig.  Sin.        f  Eph.  i:  13. 
JEph.  iv:   30. 


of  baptism.  155 

children  of  God  by  sin,  but  we  can  never  cease  to  bear 
the  seal,  which  He  imprints  on  the  souls  of  his  children, 
begotten  to  Him  through  Jesus  Christ.  The  Council 
of  Trent  pronounces  anathema  against  any  one  who  de- 
nies that  in  baptism  there  is  imprinted  in  the  soul  a 
character,  that  is,  a  certain  spiritual  and  indelible  sign, 
on  account  of  which  it  cannot  be  repeated.* 

The  Minister  and  Mode  of  Baptism. 

As  the  commission  to  teach  all  nations,  .and  to  "bap- 
tize them"  was  given  by  Jesus  Christ  to  his  Apostles, 
it  is  clear  that  their  successors,  the  ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  are  the  ordinary  ministers  of  baptism;  but  it  is 
of  faith,  that  any  person,  male  or  female,  Catholic  or 
not  Catholic,  can  validly,  and  in  case  of  necessity,  even 
lawfully,  confer  baptism.  The  church  holds,  that  as 
baptism  is  absolutely  necessary  for  salvation,  God  will- 
ed to  facilitate  its  reception,  and,  choosing  natural  wa- 
ter as  the  matter  thereof  to  be  found  every  where,  he 
allows  it  to  be  validly  administered  by  every  body,  so 
that,  if  men  should  act  rightly,  few  would  die  without 
baptism.  As  any  one  may  find  himself  in  the  case  to 
have  to  administer  baptism,  all  should  make  it  their 
study  to  know  how  to  administer  it.  The  essential 
part  is,  that  the  person  who  baptizes  should  say  all  the 
words  of  the  form  properly,  and  at  the  same  time  should 
himself  pour  the  water  on  the  head  of  the  person  as  an 
ablution.  The  custom,  used  in  the  church,  is  to  pour 
the  water  in  the  form  of  the  cross  three  times,  once 
while  naming  each  of  the  persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
and  the  greatest  care  is  to  be  taken  to  use  the  wrords  : 
"  I  baptize  thee,"  &c.  The  church  recognizes,  that  the 
application  of  the  water  as  an  ablution  may  be  made  in 
three  different  ways  for  baptism,  and  yet  the  baptism  be 
valid  ;  viz:  by  immersion,  by  pouring,  and  by  aspersion 
or  sprinkling.  There  must  be  enough  water  applied  to 
the  person  to  be  an  emblem  of  the  washing  or  cleansing 

*  Sess.  VII.,  C;m.  IX,  on  Sac.  ia  Gen. 


156  OF   BAPTISM. 

of  the  soul.  Immersion  seems,  from  the  expression  of 
the  Apostle,  of  being  "buried  wjth  Christ  by  baptism 
in  the  likeness  of  his  death,"  and  from  testimonies  in 
certain  works  of  some  of  the  early  fathers,  to  have 
been 'the  mode  most  commonly  used  at  first,  but  at  a 
very  early  day,  the  mode  by  pouring  began  to  be  found 
most  convenient  in  many  cases,  and  in  the  course  of 
several  centuries  became  of  almost  general  observance.* 
At  present  it  is  not  lawful,  at  least,  in  the  Western  por- 
tion of  the  church,  for  the  individual  minister  to  use 
any  but  this  mode  by  pouring,  which   the  church  has 


*  Some  persons  pretend,  from  the  Greek  w/>rd,  baptizo,  to  derive 
an  argument  for  immersion  as  the  only  mode  of  baptism  proper  and 
efficient.  But  the  word  means  other  modes  of  washing  as  well  as 
that  by  plunging  or  dipping  the  body.  In  the  book  of  Ecelesiasti- 
cus  xxxir:  2$,  it  is  used  to  signify  the  legal  purification  necessary 
after  becoming  unclean  by  touching  a  corpse,  and  this  purification 
was  effected  by  being  sprinkled  with  the  water  of  expiation,  as 
may  be  seen  in  Numbers  xix:  13.  In  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  the 
Jews,  on  coming  Irom  the  market  place,  were  accustomed  to  bap- 
tize themselves,  Mark  vii:  4,  most  probably  by  dipping  their  hands 
in  water.  St.  Paul  calls  the  various  kinds  of  legal  purification  bap- 
tisms, Heb.  ix  :  10,  although  several  of  thern  were  effected  by  mere 
aspersions.  The  same  use  of  the  word  for  washings,  that  were  not 
immersions,  can  also  be  shown  in  Work ■  of  profane  writers.  See 
Lexicon  II.  Slephani.  Those  in  the  early  period  of  the  church,  who 
were  baptized  when  lick  in  bed,  and  whs  were  called  clinics,  were 
not  baptized  by  immersion,  and  yet  were  held  to  be  validly  bap- 
tized. No  one  ventured  to  re  baptize  audi  Christians;  and  St.  Cy- 
prian, in  his  Epistle  LXXVI,  replies  to  a  question  which  some  one 
had  addressed  to  him  to  know  if  such  baptism*  were  valid,  calling 
it  "the  divine  compendium,"  he  averred  that  it  is  a  true  baptism, 
and  confers  all  on  belfevej*.  Both  modes  were  then  in  use  in  the 
early  church,  and  the  word  in  Greek  allows  both  meanings,  and 
therefore  the  Greek  can  furnish  no  proof,  for  an  exclusive  use  of 
immersion  in  baptism.  While  the  mode  by  immersion  may  have 
been  the  one  most  in  use  at  first,  when  those  baptized  were  most 
commonly  adults,  it  is  not  certain  that  even  at  first  it  was  the  only 
mode.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  Apostles  immersed  the  three 
thousand  persons  whom  they  baptized  in  one  day,  nor  i5  it  proba- 
ble that  St.  Paul  immersed  the  jailor  and  his  family  when  he  bap- 
tized them  in  prison  ;  and,  when  in  progress  of  time,  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  church,  most  of  persons  were  baptized  in  their  in- 
fancy, it  happened  that  the  mode  by  immersion  was  gradually  dis- 
continued.  The  practice  of  the  church,  founded  upon  the  ancient 
doctrine  and  usage  in  the  administration  of  baptism,  ought  to  be  held 
as  sufficient  to  clear  up  any  supposed  difficulty  on  this  point. 


OF    BAPTISM.  157 

selected  and  prescribed.  In  this  mode,  there  is  applied 
a  sufficiency  of  water  to  symbolize  the  washing  of  the 
soul,  and  it  is  easy  to  use  it  under  all  circumstances. 
Immersion  is  not,  for  persons  under  some  circumstan- 
ces, or  in  some  places,  convenient,  or  safe,  and  in  as- 
persion, there  is  danger  of  not  applying  to  the  body 
any  water  when  the  baptism  would  be  invalid,  or  a  suf- 
ficiency to  be  a  type  of  washing,  in  which  case  the 
baptism  would  at  best  be  doubtful.  The  church  has 
then  wisely  adopted  the  mode  by  pouring,  which  is  the 
one  to  be  used  when  this  sacrament  is  administered. 

Of  the  Ceremonies. 

The  other  ceremonies,  prescribed  and  performed  in 
the  solemn  administration  of  baptism,  do  not  pertain  to 
the  essence  of  this  sacrament,  but  are  most  impressive 
and  instructive,  and,  as  demonstrated  from  testimonies 
of  the  Fathers,  arc  of  the  highest  antiquity,  and  to  be 
referred  to  Apostolical  tradition.  In  these  ceremonies 
the  church  shows,  with  what  dispositions,  the  unregen- 
erated  are  to  seek  to  be  enrolled  among  the  children  of 
God,  by  this  sacred  rite.  She  demands  from  the  can- 
didate :  "  What  dost  thou  ask  of  the  Church  of  God?" 
to  which  his  reply  is:  "Faith."  And  here,  on  the 
very  threshold,  by  this  inquiry,  the  church  gives  a  pro- 
found instruction,  in  conformity  with  what  is  taught  by 
the  Apostle  St.  Paul,  when  he  declares,  that  "  faith 
cometh  by  hearing,"  viz  :  that  it  is,  from  the  church  of 
Jesus  Christ,  that  men  are  to  receive  belief  of  the  di- 
vine truths  which  God  has  revealed.  It  is  the  office  of 
the  church,  through  her  ministers,  to  preach  the  gospel 
of  salvation.  The  candidate  is  tnen  asked :  ."  What 
will  faith  avail  thee?"  He  answers:  " Life  everlast- 
ing." And  he  is  then  told,  in  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ :  "  If  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,  keep  the  com- 
mandments," and  enjoined  to  love  God  with  all  his 
heart  and  soul,  and  his  neighbour  as  himself.  The  ex- 
orcisms manifest  to  him  the  sad  condition  of  his  birth 
in  a  state  of  sin,  and  as  "  a  child  of  wrath,"  while  the 


158  OF   BAPTISM. 

other  prayers  with  the  signings  of  the  cross,  announce 
that,  through  the  passion  and  death  of  Christ,  he  is  to 
be  restored.  He  is  to  receive  the  grace  of  God,  of 
which  the  sacred  oil  is  an  emblem,  and  with  it,  on  the 
breast  and  shoulders,  heisanointed-in  the  form  of  a  cross, 
to  remind  him  that,  with  Gods  grace  and  the  strength 
that  it  will  give  him,  he  is  to  love  as  well  as  carry  the 
cross  daily,  and  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  required  to  profess  his  faith  by  the  recital  of  the 
creed  drawn  up  by  the  Apostles,  his  belief  in  the  Holy 
Trinity,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  in  whose  name 
he  is  to  receive  a  new  birth.  He  is  made  to  taste  salt, 
the  emblem  of  wisdom  and  preservation,  while  a  prayer 
is  offered  for  him,  that,  henceforward,  he  may  thirst  af- 
ter the  heavenly  foed,  and  in  serving  God,  "  be  fervent 
in  spirit  and  rejoicing  in  hope."  He  is  signed  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross  in  token  of  his  faith  in  Christ  cruci- 
fied, and  also  signed  with  saliva  in  memorial,  that  he, 
who,  using  this,  cured  the  deaf  and  dumb,  will  also  f<  r 
him  remove  all  spiritual  deafness,  and  loosen  his  tongue 
in  the  praise  of  God.  He  is  required  to  renounce  the 
Devil,  his  works,  and  pomps,  and  earnestly  take  part 
with  God,  against  whose  honor  and  glory  all  the  efforts 
of  the  devil  are  directed.  "  The  laver  of  regeneration, 
with  the  Word  of  life,"  is  then  applied  to  him,' and  he 
is  renewed  in  life  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  As 
a  sign  of  his  being  aggregated  to  the  royal  priesthood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  anointed  on  the  crown  of  his  head 
with  holy  chrism,  the  white  robe  is  placed  on  him,  as  an 
embrem  of  his  robes  washed  white  in  the  blood  of  Christ, 
and  he  is  warned,  "  to  carry  it  without  stain  before  the 
judgment  seat  of  ©ur  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  and,  to  de- 
clare to  him  what  is  now  expected  from  him,  the  lighted 
taper,  the  emblem  of  good  works,  is  placed  in  his  hand, 
and  this  light  admonishes  him  that  he  must  not  only  let 
his  light  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  h:s  good 
works,  and  glorify  God,  his  Father,  but  that  if  he  have  not 
oil  in  his  lamp,  even  though  exempt  from  certain  vices, 
he  may  be  excluded  from  the  feast  of  the  bridegroom, 
as  were  the  foolish  virgins.     Finally,  he  is  told  to  "go 


OF   BAPTISM.  159 

in  peace."  It  is  thus,  that  an  immortal  being  enters 
upon  a  new  career,  and,  when  already  an  adult  at  the 
time  this  transformation  or  renewal  is  accomplished,  he 
is  made  able  by  faith  and  grace  to  behold,  beyond  the 
mists  and  darkness  of  the  present  life,  the  opened  gates 
of  God's  celestial  kingdom,  and  is  filled  with  the  high 
and  consoling  hopes  of  one  day  entering  it,  as  co-heir 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  possess  endless  joys  and  unfading 
glories  as  an  eternal  inheritance.  '  Happy  the  one  who 
can  present  to  God  the  title  of  his  baptismal  innocence 
preserved ! 

Before  concluding  the  present  chapter,  it  may  be  of 
utility  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  the  sponsors  re- 
quired to  assist  the  candidate  for  baptism.  The  custom 
of  having  sponsors  prevailed  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
church.  Tertullian,  in  his  book  on  baptism,  makes 
mention  of  them,  and  refers  to  the  responsibility  which 
they  assume.  If  they  were  customary  in  tWsa  day*, 
when  adults  came  forward  able  to  answer  for  them- 
selves, they  are  still  more  necessary  for  infants,  who 
cannot  give  promises  of  fidelity,  but^stand  in  need  of 
some  one  to  watch  over  them  and  instruct  them  in  the 
doctrines  of  faith  and  in  the  ways  of  virtue.  The  faith 
of  the  sponsors  is  received  as  that  of  the  children  for 
whom  they  stand,  and  it  is  their  duty  to  see  their  God- 
children brought  up  according  to  tjie  pledge  they  have 
given  for  them,  and  prepared  and  willing  to  renew  their 
promises  when  able  to  do  so.  These  sponsors  were 
termed  susceptores,  receivers,  because  tliey  received  the 
baptized  perspjj  as  he  came  forth  from  the  waters,  in 
which  he  was  newly  born.  At  first,  several  were  al- 
lowed to  act  in  this  capacity,  but  the  Council  of  Trent 
has  restricted  the  number,  saying:  "One  person  only, 
whether  male  or  female,  or  at  most  one  male  and  one 
female  shall  receive  in  baptism  the  individual  baptized." 
The  reason  for  .this  restriction  is  the  impediment  to 
marriage,  which  arises  from  the  spiritual  relationship 
or  affinity  produced  by  baptism.  The  council  says  : 
"  between  whom  (the  sponsors)  and  the  baptized,  and 
the  father  and  mother  thereof;  as  also  between  the 


160  OF   CONFIRMATION. 

person  baptizing  and  the  baptized,  and  the  father  and 
mother  of  the  baptized ;  and  these  only ;  shall  spiritual 
relationship  be  contracted."  * 

This  impediment  of  affinity,  which  may  arise  either 
from  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  or  from  that  of  con- 
firmation, by  ecclesiastical  law  prevents  marriage  from 
being  valid,  unless  a  dispensation  has  been  obtained. 
The  Council  of  Trent  strictly  enjoins  upon  priests  who 
.have  conferred  baptism,  "  to  register  the  names  of  the 
sponsors,  and  to  teach  them  what  relationship  they  have 
contracted,  that  they  may  not  have  any  excuse  on  the 
score  of  ignorance."  f 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF  CONFIRMATION — ITS  MATTER  AND  FORM — ITS  EF- 
FECTS— ITS  MINISTER  —  ITS  NECESSITY  —  ITS  SUB- 
JECT. 

The  Saviour,  when  about  to  leave  his  Apostles  and 
ascend  to  his  Father,  promised  to  send  the  Holy  Ghost 
upon  them  in  order  to  give  them  strength  to  be  fearless 
witnesses  for  him  and  his  doctrines,  and  to  teach  them 
all  truth,  that  they  might  be  able  to  teach  the  same  to 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  Holy  Ghost  descended 
upon  the  Apostles  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  gave 
to  them  numerous  graces  and  miraculous  gifts.  These 
were  of  ttwo  kinds ;  some  to  qualify  them  to  plant  the 
church  and  to  convert  men,  others  to  sanctify  them 
still  more,  and  make  them  models  for  a  holy  life.  The 
Holy  Ghost  was  conferred  upon  the  Apostles  in  an  ex- 
traordinary and  exceptional  manner.  They  represent- 
ed the  church  of  Christ,  and  received  the  Charismata, 
or  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  such  as  the  power  of  mira- 

*Ses».  xxiv  :  ch.2d.     f  Ibid. 


OF  CONFIRMATION.  161 

cles,  the  gift  of  tongues,  prophecy,  &c,  for  the  benefit 
of  others.  They  also  received  graces  for  themselves 
personally.  In  the  first  period  of  the  church,  the 
Apostles,  by  means  of  "  the  imposition  of  hands,"  con- 
ferred the  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  exterior  and  extraor- 
dinary gifts  were  also  manifested  in  those  upon  whom 
they  imposed  hands,  but  they  were  gifts  designed  to  as- 
sist in  establishing  the  faith,  and  extending  the  limits 
of  the  church.  They  were  less  frequently  bestowed  in 
proportion  as  the  need  for  them  decreased.  Yet  the 
sacrament  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  a  visible,  sensi- 
ble sign  of  invisible  grace,  continued  to  be  adminis- 
tered for  the  growth  and  perfection  of  individual  Chris- 
tians, a,s  intended  by  the  Saviour,  when  he  instituted  it; 
sanctifying  grace  to  fortify  and  strengthen  the  soul, 
and  not  the  Charismata,  or  gifts  to  persons  for  the  ben- 
efit of  others,  was  the  ordinary  effect  contemplated. 
This  sacrament  is  commonly  known  as  confirmation. 
It  may  be  defined :  "  A  sacrament,  instituted  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  communicates  to  us  the  plen- 
itude of  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  renders  us  per- 
fect Christians  and  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  gives 
us  strength  to  confess  the  faith  even  at  the  peril  of  our 
lives."  Upon  the  first  converts,  this  sacrameat  was 
conferred  immediately  after  baptism,  but  it  was  held  to 
be  a  different  sacrament ;  as  remarked  by  the  Cate- 
chism of  the  Council  of  Trent :  "  The  diversity  of  the 
grace  which  each  sacrament  confers,  and  the  diversity 
of  the  external  sign  employed  to  signify  that  grace, 
obviously  constitute  them  different  sacraments.  As  by 
the  grace  of  baptism  we  are  begotten  to  newness  of 
life,  and  by  confirmation  grow  to  full  maturity,  having 
put  away  the  things  of  a  child,,  we  can  hence  sufficient- 
ly comprehend  that  the  same  difference  which  exists  in 
the  natural  order  between  birth  and  growth,  exists  also 
in  the  supernatural,  between  baptism  which  regenerates, 
and  confirmation  which  imparts  full  growth  and  perfect 
spiritual  strength."*     It  is  of  faith  that  confirmation 

•  Cat.  Coun.  Trent,  on  Confirmation. 


162  OF   CONFIRMATION. 

is  a  true  sacrament,  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
holy  Scriptures  furnish  proofs  of  this  doctrine.  In  the 
Acts,  c*  viii :  v.  14,  we  read:  "Now  when  the  Apos- 
tles, that  were  in  Jerusalem,  had  heard  that  Samaria 
had  received  the  Word  of  God,  they  sent  to  them  Peter 
and  John  ;  who,  when  they  were  come,  prayed  for  them 
that  they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  For,  he  was 
not,  as  yet,  come  upon  any  of  them ;  but  they  were 
only  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Then 
they  laid  their  hands  upon  them  ;  and  they  received 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Also  in  the  xix  chap,  of  Acts,  v. 
5,  &c,  we  read  thus  :  "  Having  heard  these  things,  they 
were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And 
when  Paul  had  imposed  his  hands  on  them,  the  Holy 
Ghost  came  upon  them."  Thus  was  this  sacrament  ad- 
ministered by  the  Apostles  by  a  sensible  sign,  which 
conferred  the  Holy  Ghost,  showing  that  it  is  an  institu- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ,  who  only  could  give  to  a  sensible 
sign  this  power.  It  is,  therefore,  really  a  sacrament, 
and,  as  such,  has  been  in  constant  use  in  the  church 
since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  The  Council  of  Trent 
declares:  "If  any  one  saith,  that  the  confirmation  of 
those  who  have  been  baptized  is  an  idle  ceremony,  and 
not  rather  a  true  and  proper  sacrament ;  Let  him  be 
anathema."* 

The  Matter  and  Form. 

This  sacrament  is  conferred  by  an  imposition  of 
hands  with  prayer,  and  by  an  unction  on  the  forehead  of 
the  recipient  with  chrism,  composed  of  olive  oiland  fra- 
grant balsam  blessed  for  the  purpose  by  the  Bishop,  and 
applied  with  the  words:  "I  sign  thee  with  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  and  I  confirm  thee  with  the  chrism  of  salvation, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Glfost."  In  his  second  epistle  1o  the  Corinthians, 
c.  1:  v.  29,  the  Apostle  is  understood  to  refer  to  this 
sacrament  when  he  says;   "Now  he  that  confirm  eth  us 

*  Sess.  vii :  can.  1,  on  confirm. 


OF   CONFIRMATION.  163 

with  you  in  Christ,  and  that  hath  anointed  lis,  is  God, 
who  also  hath  sealed  us,  and  given  the  pledge  of  the 
Spirit  in  our  hearts."  The  external  unetion  with  chrism 
is  the  emblem  of  the  internal  unction  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  "I*  is  necessary,"  writes  St.  Cyprian,  "that 
he  who  has  been  baptized,  should  be  moreover,  anoint- 
ed ;  in  order  that  having  received  the  ehrism,  that  is 
the  unction,  he  may  be  anointed  in  God  ;  and  possess 
the  grace  of  Christ."*  Again  he  says:  "Our  custom 
is  that  those  who  have  been  .  baptized  in  the  church 
should  be  presented  to  the  bishops,  and  by  our  prayer 
and  the  imposition  of  the  hand,  receive  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  be  marked  with  the  seal  of  the  Lord."f  The  Fa- 
thers speak  of  this  sacrament  under  different  names, 
such  as  "the  imposition  of  hands,"  "the  imposition  of 
the  hand,"  "the  sacrament  of  chrism,"  "the  seal  of 
spiritual  unction,"  "the  consummation  of  the  Chris- 
tian," and  "confirmation/'  The  act  of  the  unction 
with  chrism  requires  at  the  same  time  an  imposition  of 
the  hand.  Hence,  while  all  agree  as  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  church,  certain  theologians  differ  from  the  common- 
ly received  opinion  as  to  the  matter  and  form  of  this 
sacrament,  imagining  these  to  be  found  in  the  first  im- 
position of  hands  and  accompanying  prayer,  instead  of 
in  the  imposition  of  the  hand  while  making  the  unction 
with  chrism,  and  the  words:  "I  sign  thee,"  &c,  as  be- 
fore cited.  The  catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
says :  "  The  matter  of  confirmation  is  chrism,  a  word 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  language,  and  which  although 
used  by  profane  writers  to  designate  any  sort  of  oint- 
ment, is  appropriated,  by  ecclesiastical  usage,  to  signi- 
fy ointment  -composed  of  olive  oil  and  balsam,  and  sol- 
emnly consecrated  by  the  Episcopal  benediction.  A 
mixture  of  oil  and  balsam  therefore  constitutes  the  mat- 
ter of  confirmation. "J  It  also  says:  "The  form  of 
confirmation  consists  of  these  words  ;  'I  sign  thee  with 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  I  confirm  thee  with  tho  chrism 

*  Cyp.  Ep.  LXX.      f  Cyp.  Ep.  LXXUI.     }  Cat.  C'ounc.  Trent,  p. 

L'ransUuiou. 


164  OF   CONFIRMATION; 

of  salvation,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  in  his 
decree  to  the  Armenians,  declares :  "that  chrism  made 
from  oil  and  balsam,  blessed  by  the  bishop,  is  the  mat- 
ter of  this  sacrament."  It  is  the  common  ©pinion  that  ' 
the  sacred  unction  pertains  to  the  essential  matter  of 
this  sacrament,  and  the  imposition  of  hands  to  the  ne- 
cessary matter. 

Of  the  Effects  of  Confirmation. 

The  effects  of  this  sacrament  are  grace,  and  a  dis- 
tinctive mark  or  character.  It  is  of  faith,  that  this 
sacrament,  confers  sanctifying  grace,  upon  those  "who 
receive  it  worthily,  from  the  intrinsic  virtue  of  the  rite, 
ex  opere  operato.  It  is  a  grace  which  increases  in  us 
the  grace  of  baptism,  and  makes  us  perfect  Christians. 
To  this  grace  is  added  a  sacramental  grace  proper  to 
this  sacrament,  the  Holy  Ghost  communicating  himself 
to  us  and  spreading  in  our  souls  the  interior  graces 
with  which  he  strengthened  the  first  Christians,  and 
particularly  the  seven  gifts  attributed  to  him,  as  St. 
Ambrose  declares  to  the  one  confirmed :  "  Thou  hast 
received  the  spiritual  seal,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  un- 
derstanding, the  spirit  of  counsel  and  fortitude,  the 
spirit  of  knowledge  and  piety,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
fear  of  God."*  Fortitude  is  the  gift  most  needed  by 
the  Christian,  strength  to  resist  temptation,  to  endure 
persecution,  to  combat  valiantly  and  obtain  victory. 
"You  shall  receive  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  com- 
ing upon  you,"f  wag  the  gift  promised  by  the  Saviour 
to  his  Apostles.  Confirmation  imprints  on  the  soul  an 
indelible  sign  or  seal,  and  therefore  this  sacrament  can 
only  be  received  once.  This  is  of  faith.  St.  Paul  re- 
fers to  this  sign  in  his  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  2d 
Ep.  c.  i:  22,  "who  also  hath  sealed  us,"  or  marked  us 
with  a  sign.  Therefore  St.  Ambrose  writes  :  "Thou 
.  hast  received  the  spiritual  seal."     The  mark  impressed 

*  Lib.  de  Mysteriis,  c.  vii.  f  A.cts  i :  8. 


OP   CONFIRMATION.  165 

9 

by  baptism  is  that  of  child  of  God,  the  mark  given  by 
confirmation  is  that  of  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  That 
confirmation  imprints  a  character  is  declared  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  V.  Can.  V. 

Of  the  Minister  of  Confirmation. 

A  bishop  is  the  ordinary  minister  of  the  sacrament 
of  confirmation,  as  proved  by  the  constant  practice  of 
the  church,  and  by  various  declarations  of  Popes  and 
of  the  Council  of  Trent.  With  special  powers  from 
the  sovereign  Pontif,  however,  a  priest  may  be  the  ex- 
traordinary minister  of  this  sacrament.  In  these  cases, 
he  must  use  chrism  which  has  been  consecrated  by  a 
bishop.  Confirmation  administered  by  a  priest,  with- 
out having  received  authorization  from  the  vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ,  would  be  null.  The  Council  of  Trent  de- 
clares:  "If  anyone  s:iith,  that  the  ordinary  minister 
of  confirmation  is  not  the  bishop  alone,  but  any  simple 
priest  soever;  Let  him  be  anathema."* 

Of  the  Necessity  of  Confirmation. 

This  sacrament  is  not  absolutely  necessary  for  salva- 
tion as  a  necessary  means,  for  the  person  confirmed  is 
supposed  to  be  already  in  the  state  of  grace,  but  it  is 
necessary  by  command,  and  adults  are,  under  pain  of 
Bin,  obliged  to  receive  it  when  the  occasion  is  afforded 
them.  Hence,  their  neglect  may  be  the  cause  of  their 
missing  salvation  by  the  sin  they  commit,  and  because 
of  their  not  having  the  graces  which  they  could  have 
received  from  this  sacrament,  and  their  falling  away  in 

time  of  trial  and  combat. 

i 

The  Subject  of  Confirmation. 

Only  persons  who  have  been  baptized  can  receive 
this  sacrament.      All  baptized  persons,  even   infants, 

•  Sess.  VII,  Can.  III.  on  Confirm. 


1QQ  THE    EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT. 

may  validly  receive  it,  but,  in  our  times,  it  is  consider- 
ed proper  to  wait  till  children  have  attained  the  use  of 
reason,  before  admitting  them  to  be  confirmed. 

But  few  ceremonies  accompany  the  administration  of 
this  sacrament.  After  the  unction,  the  bishop  gives  to 
the  person  confirmed  a  slight  blow  on  the  cheek,  using 
the  words  :  "peace  be  with  thee."  This  shows  the  na- 
ture of  the  Christian  warfare  in  which  the  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  enlisted;  it  is  one  of  suffering  and  en- 
durance. He  must  bear  his  cross  and  follow  Jesus 
Christ  with  patience  and  fortitude. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF   THE   HOLY   EUCHARIST — IT  IS   A    SACRAMENT  AND  A 
SACRIFICE. 

The  most  excellent  and  wonderful  of  the  sacraments 
is  the  Holy  Eucharist.  It  not  only  confers  grace  but 
contains  and  gives  the  author  of  grace,  Jesus  Christ 
himself.  It  is  the  tree  of  Life,  whose  fruits  confers 
immortality;  more  excellent  than  the  manna,  which 
also  descended  from  heaven,  it  is  the  bread  of  life,  and 
"he  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live  forever."  To  set 
forth  the  doctrines  of  the  church  regarding  this  sacra- 
ment, we  shall  observe  that  every  thing  depends  on  the 
dogma  of  the  true,  real,  and  substantial  presence  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  God-man,  under  what  still  appears  to 
the  senses  to  be  only  bread  and  Avine.  And  this  real 
presence  of  Jesus  Christ  being  revealed  to  the  church 
and  held  as  of  faith,  the  Eucharist  which  contains  him, 
is  to  be  considered  at  the  same  time  as  a  true  sacrament 
and  a  true  sacrifice,  the  ineffable  "  mystery  of  faith," 
and  the  "memorial  of  all  the  wonderful  works  of-  God." 
The  term  Eucharist  signifies  thanksgiving,  or  good 
grace.     It  is  sometimes  called  the  Holy  Communion, 


THE   EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT.  167 

the  Holy  Sacrament,  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar,  the 
Synaxis,  the  Viaticum,  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  even 
"  the  LoreTs  Supper,"  because  it  was  instituted  at  the 
last  supper  of  Jesus  Christ  with  his  disciples.  Consid- 
ered comprehensively  aa  regards  the  doctrines  of  faith, 
tin'  Eucharist  is  the  sacrament,  and  sacrifice  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  under 
the  forms  and  appearances  of  bread  and  wine  is  offered 
in  sacrifice,  remains  present,  and  is  given  to  be  the 
spiritual  food  of  nun. 

As  the  humanity  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  are 
united  in  the  divine  hypostatw,  or  personality^  it  must 
be  true,  that  wherever  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  is,  there 
also  must  be  his  divjnity,  and  if  his  soul  should  be  sep- 
arated from  the  body  as  in  time  of  his  death,  the  di- 
vinity must  be  with  both  soul  and  body,  and  hence  in 
speaking  of  the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  we  mean  that  he  is  present  as  he  is  since  his 
resurrection,  the  living  Christ,  body,  blood,  soul,  and 
divinity.  At  the  time  the  Eucharist  was  instituted 
Jesus  Christ  saying:  "Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body," 
'•  drink*  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  the  new  testament  in 
my  blood,"  caused  his  body  and  blood  to  be  present  as 
he  then  was  before  his  death  and  resurrection,  but  when 
alter  his  resurrection  his  Apostles,  in  obedience  to  his 
command,  did  what  he  had  done,  and,  as  his  ministers, 
consecrated  ami  offered  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice,  Jesus 
Christ  became  present  as  he  is  since  his  resurrection, 
his  body  being  spiritualized  and  glorified. 

The  Eucharist  as  a  Sacrament — The  Real  Presence — 
Transubstantiation — Other  Points  in  the  Doctrine — 
Its  Matter  and  Form — J(s  Minister — Its  Subject — 
Its  Necessity — Its  Effects. 

We  may  define  this  s  icrament  as  follows:  "  The  Eu- 
charist is  a  sacrament  of  the  new  law  which,  under  the 
forms  and  appearances  of  bread  and  wine,  contains 
truly,  really,  and  substantially  the  body,  blood,  soul, 
and  divinity'of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  himself 


168  THE   EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT. 

instituted  it  to  be  the  food  and  nourishment  of  our 
soul."  That  it  is  a  sacrament,  is  admitted  by  nearly 
all  religious  denominations.  The  Catholic  church  de- 
clares this  to  be  an  article  of  divine  Faith.  It  is  also 
of  Faith,  that  Jesus  Christ  himself  instituted  it,  since 
he  only  could  plaoe  his  body,  blood,  soul,  and  divinity 
under  the  forms  and  appearances  of  bread  and  wine. 

The  fact  of  its  institution  by  him  is  recorded  in  the 
gospels,*  and  declared  by  the  Apostle  St.  Paul.f  He 
commanded  his  Apostles,  and  (as  he  designed  the  insti- 
tution for  the  benefit  of  men  till  the  consummation  of 
the  world)  their  successors,  the  Bishops,  and  all  who 
should  be  ordained  to  be  his  priests  and  ministers,  to 
"  do  for  a  commemoration  of  hirn^'  what  he  had  just 
done  himself.J 

By  this  definition  it  is  seen,  that  it  is  of  Faith  that 
what  is  contained  under  the  forms  and  appearances,  or 
accidental  qualities  of  bread  and  wine  is  the  body, 
blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  the 
substance  of  bread  and  wine  as  before  consecration. 
Hence  the  doctrine  teaches :  1st.  The  real  presence  of 
Jesus  Christ.  2dly.  That  transubstantiation  has  been 
effected  by  the  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  substance 
of  the  bread  and  wine  changed  into  the  substance  of 
his  body  and  blood. 

The  Real  Presence. 

The  doctrine  that  God  Incarnate  is,  from  love  for 
men,  really,  truly,  and  substantially,  present  under  the 
humble  appearances  of  the  ordinary  articles  of  man's 
daily  food,  bread  and  wine,  is  so  far  above  the  compre- 
hension of  reason,  that  many  find  it  "a  hard  saying," 
and  ask  "how  it  can  be  so?"  Reason  also  has  refused 
to  admit  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  affecting 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  and  many  other  mysteries, 
but  not  wisely,  because  God,  to  whom  all  that  he  wills 


*  John  xiil:  26,  &c.     Math,  xxvi :  26.     Mark  xiv  :  22.     Luke  xxii: 
10.     flCcr.  ju:84.     %  Luke  xxii:  19. 


THE   BBCHARIST   A   SACRAMINT.  169 

to  do  is  possible,  lias  revealed  these  mysteries.  Men 
by  varioms  interpretations,  have,  tried  to  show  that  God 
never  intended  to  give  himself  in  the  present  life,  sac- 
ramentally,  to  those  to  whom  he  promises  to  give  him- 
self eternally  in  heaven.  They  imagine  the  bread  and 
wine  to  be  a  mere  figure  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
and  feign  a  manducation  or  eating  of  the  body  by  faith, 
rather  than  admit  so  much  power  and  love  in  God,  or 
accept  such  a  great  gift  from  his  goodness.  He  who 
came  to  fulfill  ancient  figures  by  the  reality,  which  was 
prefigured  so  splendidly  in  the  rock  of  the  desert,  the 
manna  which  fell  from  Heaven,  and  the  Paschal  Lamb, 
by  their  contracted  hearts  and  views,  is,  at  the  last 
moment  of  his  exercise  of  love  and  power  before  his 
death,  to  be  prevented,  when  making  his  last  will  and 
testament,  from  giving  more  to  his  friends  and  disciples 
than  a  similar  and  still  more  ancient  figure,  the  bread 
and  wine,  such  as  Melchisedech  offered  in  the  presence 
of  Abraham,  because  what  he  wills  to  give  is  himself, 
and  they  do  not  think  he  can  possibly  be  able  to  give 
himself,  really,  truly,  and  substantially. 

The  church  understands  bettor  the  omnipotence  and 
intentions  of  her  divine  founder.  She  teaches,  that, 
in  this  sacrament,  his  body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  arc 
"truly  "  present,  and  that  the  sensible  sign  is  not  a  mere 
figure,  such  as  the  Jews  had ;  "she  teaches,  that  they 
are  "really"  present;  and  not  merely  represented  to 
be  there  by  the  faith  of  the  Christian  ;  and  she  declares, 
that  they  are  "  substantially  "  present ;  not  merely  pres- 
ent by  a  virtue  or  force  acting  on  the  soul  of  the  re- 
ceiver, while  themselves  are  absent  in  heaven,  but  pres- 
ent as  substances  are  present  under  their  properties. 

However  wonderful  this  mystery  may  appear,  there 
is  no  article  of  the  Catholic  creed  more  clearly  an- 
nounced* and  presented  in  the  Scriptures  ;  and  none, 
that,  in  all  ages,  has  exerted  such  wonderful  influence, 
and  produced  such  wonderful  effects  in  the  lives  of  men, 
as  manifested  by  the  history  of  the  church. 

The  proofs,  from  the  chapter  of  the  promise,  or  tho 
sixth  <&rpter  of  jSt".  Johnf  tail  only  be  evaded  Pj  a  <ft- 


170  THE   EUCHARIST   A   SACRAMENT. 

nial  that  St.  John  there  speaks  of  the  Eucharist.  If 
there  he  does  not  speak  of  the  Eucharist,  so  important 
an  institution  of  his  divine  master,  he  says  nothing 
about  it  any  "where.  From  the  earliest  period  of  the 
church,  this  chapter  of  St.  John  has  been  understood 
to  record  the  promise  of  Jesus  Christ  to  institute  the 
Eiicharist.  The  Jews  had  asked  the  Saviour,  •  28 : 
"What  shall  we  do  that  we  may  work  the  works  of 
God?"  Jesus  answered  them,  29:  "believe  in  him- 
whom  he  hath  sent."  30.  "They  said  therefore  to 
him  :  what  sign  therefore  dost  thou  show  that  we  may 
see  and  believe  thee?  what  dost  thou  work?  31.  "Our 
fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  desert  as  it  is  written :  he 
(jd>'c  them  bread  from  heaven  to  eat." 

32.  "Then  Jesus  said  to  them  :  Amen,  Amen,  I  say 
unto  you :  Moses  gave  you  not  bread  from  heaven,  but 
my  Father  giveth  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven.  33. 
"For  the  bread  of  God  is  that  which  'comcth  down 
from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  to  the  world." 

35.  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life,"  &c.  ....  38.  "be- 
cause I  came  down  from  heaven."  The  Jews  murmur- 
ed because  he  said,  41.  "  I  am  the  living  bread  which 
came  down  from  heaven,"  and  asked,  42.  "  Is  not  this 
Jesus,  the  son  of  Joseph,  whose  father  and  mother  we 
know  ?  how  then  sayefh  he,  I  came  down  from  heaven  ?" 
Jesus  said:  48.  "I  am  the  bread  of  life."  49.  "Your 
fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  desert,  and  are  dead." 
50.  "  This  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  hea- 
ven; that  if  any  man  cat  of  it,  he  may  not  die."  51. 
"  I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven." 
52.  "  If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread  he  shall  live  for- 
ever, and  the  bread  which  I  will  give  is  my  flesh  for 
the  life  of  the  world." 

53.  "  The  Jews  therefore  strove  among  themselves, 
saying  :  how  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat?"  54. 
Then  Jesus  said  to  them ;  Amen,  Amen,  I  say  unto 
you :  except  you  eat  the  flesh  of  the  son  of  man,  and 
drink  his  blood,  you  shall  not  have  life  in  you!"  55. 
"  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath 
everlasting  life;  and  1  will  raise  him  up  in  the  last  day." 


E   EUCHARIST   A   SACRAMENT.  171 

"  For  ray  flesh  is  meat  indeed  and  my  blood  ig 
drink  indeed." 

It  is  cle;ir  -in  the  above  passage,  that  our   Saviour 
'speaks  at  first  of  a  bread  which  has  already  been  sent 
to  men  from  heaven,  and  declares  that  he  is  that  living 
■bread  which  came   down  from  heaven   to  give  life  to 
those  believing  in  him  ;  and  again  he  speaks  of  a  bread 
that  has  not  yet  been  given,  but  which  is  to  be  given  to 
men  in  the  future,  and  he  makes  a  promise  to  give  this 
bread,  and   says:   "the  bread  which  I  will  give  is  my 
flesh,  for  the  life  of  the  world."     He  first  declares  hinf- 
self  "  the  living  bread,"  and  then  declares  that  he  will, 
at  some  future  time,  "give  bread,"  which  shall  be  his 
"flesh"  for  the  life  of  the  world.     God  had  already 
furnished  him  with  the  seal  of  his  authority,  in  the  mir- 
acle of  the  multiplication  of  the  five  loaves,  to  feed  five 
thousand   people;  "For  him  hath   God,   the   Father, 
sealed."     And  having  this   seal,  he  wishes  to  give  a 
meat  that  "  endureth  unto  life  everlasting."     But  to 
I  have   the  benefit,  men  must  be  satisfied   with  the  seal, 
and  "  believe  in  him,"  that  he  is  able  to  give  this  super- 
excellent  meat.     He,  being  himself  the  living  bread, 
will  give  bread,  but  bread  which  will  not  be  bread  as  to 
itance,  but  be  himself,  his  "flesh  for  the  life  of  the 
world." 

How  did  his  hearers  understand  what  he  said?  They 
understood  that  he  spoke  of  theb  eating  his  flesh,  for 
they  asked:  "How  can  this  man'give"  «s  his  flesh  to 
lie  did  not  deny  that  he  meant  a  real  eating  of 
his  flesh  and  drinking  of  his  blood,  but  in  stronger 
terms  asserted  the  necessity  that  men  should  thus  eat 
hia  llesh  and'  drink  his  blood,  if  they  wished  eternal 
life. 

To  make  his  words  true,  he  must  then,  in  a  manner 
known  to  himself,  present  himself  as  bread,  that  when 
he  gives  this  bread,  tho§6  who  eat  it  may,  as  he  ex- 
presses it,  w-  eat  him."  "  So  he  that  eatetlt  me,  the  same 
-hall  live  by  me."  He  must  give  bread,  which,  while 
appearing  to  be  bread,' shall  be  indeed  bis' flesh  and 
blood,     lie  has  declared  that  "  unless  von  cat  the  flesh 


172  THE   EUOHAMST  A   SACRAMENT, 

of  the  son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood  you  shall  not 
have  life  in  you."     And  he  therefore  commits  himself, 
as   man's   Redeemer  and   Saviour,  to   the  necessity  of 
rendering  it  possible  for  man  to  eat  his  flesh  and  drink* 
his  blood.    Man  has  not  the  difficult  and  impossible  ob- 
ligation of  devising  hotv  this  can  be  done ;  but  he,  •who 
requires  it  being  God,  will  himself  render  it  possible, 
and  appoint  the  way.     He  says,  this  way  does  not  yet 
exist,  for  he  speaks  in  the  sense  of  the  future,  and, 
therefore,  it  is  not  merely  by  faith  in  his  incarnation, 
or  belief  that  "he  is  the  living  bread  which  canae  down 
fro»  h«*ven,"  as  some  pretema,  for  this  belief  «lready 
existed  with  some  of  his  hearers  and  followers,  ajnd  yet 
with  respect  to  the  participation  of  his  flesh  and  blood, 
he  looks  to  a  future   time,  saying  :  "  The  bread  which 
I  will  give  is  my  flesh."     They  are  able  to  believe  in 
him,  and  believe  his  incarnation,  just  then  while  he  is 
speaking,  but  they  cannot  yet  eat  the  bread  which  ho 
promised  to  give  in  the  future,  and  which  in  eating, 
they  shall  eat  "his  flesh  as  meat  indeed,"  and  drink  "his  ' 
blood  as  drink  indeed."     But  many  of  his  disciples  and 
followers,  hearing  this  discourse,  said :  "  This  saying  is 
hard,  and  who  can  hear  it?"  &c. 

If  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence  be  what  Jesus 
Christ  intended  to  convey,  it  is  "  a  hard  saying"  to  any 
one  who  wishes  to  understand  every  thing  which  he  is 
required  to  believe;  but  in  what  sense  can  it  be  "a 
hard  saying"  under  the  interpretation  of  a  mere  figu- 
rative presence?  These  disciples,  finding  it  hard  and 
difficult,  were  "scandalized,"  or  stumbled  and  fell,  un- 
able to  accept  it.  The  Saviour  asks  :  "  Doth  this  scan- 
dalize you?  If  then  you  shall  see  the  son  of  man  as- 
cend up  where  he  was  before?  It  is  the  spirit  that 
quickeneth,  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing.  The  words  that 
I  have  ppoken  to  you,  are  spirit  and  life/'  In  asking 
this  question,  he  showed  his  divinity  by  reading  their 
hearts,  lor  he  "knew  in  himself  that  his  disciples  mur- 
mured at  this."  He  appealed  to  his  ascension,  as  a 
wonderful  event,  connected  with  this  doctrine,  and  one 
calculated  either  to  increase  or  diminish  the  difficulty 


THE   EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT.  178 

and  scandal.     As  if  he  said:  If  you  see  me  ascend  to 
heaven,  will  you  not  believe  that  I  descended  from  hea- 
ven, and  have  therefore  power  to  give  you  bread  which 
shall  be  my  flesh  ?     If  you  see  me  ascend  to  heaven 
and  know  my  body  has  become  celestial  and  spiritual, 
will  you  not  believe  it  can  be  really  given  to  you  as  if 
it  Avere  bread,  and  appearing  to  your  senses  to  be  bread? 
Or  if  you  have  such  difficulty,  when  you  see  my  body 
here  present,  to  believe  that  I  can  give  you  bread  that 
is  truly,  really  and  substantially  my  body,  what  greater 
scandal  will  you  take,  and  what  greater  difficulty  will 
you  have,  if  required  to  believe  that,  when  I  have  as- 
cended up  to  where   I  was  before,  I  will  still  here  on 
earth  give  bread,  "which  is  my  flesh"  to  be  eaten  by 
men?     Why  doth  this  scandalize?     "It  is  the  spirit 
that  quickeneth  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing.     Tho  words 
that  I  have  spoken  to  you  are  spirit  and  life.  But  there 
are  some  of  you  that  believe  not."     You  hear  my  words 
according  to  the  flesh,  and  not  according  to  th§  spirit. 
You  imagine  that  my  flesh  is  to  be  distributed  as  meat 
in  the  shambles,  but  will  not  understand  that  I  speak  to 
you  of  mysteries  the  most  high  and  spiritual,  of  a  sac- 
rament in  which  the  principal  gift  is  hidden,  but  which 
you  will  not  accept,  because  you  will  not  believe.     It 
would  profit  nothing  to  give  my  flesh  to   be  eaten,  ex- 
hibited as  flesh,  divided  as  flesh ;  but  to  give  it  in  the 
the  manner  I  propose,  in  a  sacrament,  is  to  give  spirit 
and  life  ;  men  shall  really,  truly,  substantially  eat  my 
flesh  and  drink  my  blood,  but  not  presented  under  ap- 
pearances  proper   to  flesh  and  blood,  but  under  the 
appearances  of  bread  and  wine.     My  flesh  as  offered 
in -sacrifice,  on  the  crogs,  redeems  men,  and  profits  every 
thing  to  them  ;  my  flesh  as  "meat  indeed,"  profits  every 
thing  to  you,  for  I  tell  you  unless  you  eat  it  " you  shall 
not  have  life  in  you."     But  your  reason,  which  has  be- 
come carnalized,  and  cannot  rise   to  accept  spiritual 
things  ;  which  judges  things  impossible  because  it  does 
not  comprehend  them,  and  which  hears  my  words  as  if 
I  were  but  "the  son  of  Joseph,"  will,  stumble  at  my 


174  THE   EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT. 

doctrine,  and  say  it  is  a  "  hard  saying,  and  who  can 
hear  it." 

That  his  words  concerning  "spirit  and  life"  did  not 
remove  their  difficulty  to  accept  his  doctrine,  is  plain 
from  their  leaving  him  after  he  said  this,  and  therefore 
it  is  plain,  that  he  in  no-wise  gave  them  to  think  that 
he  spoke  of  a  mere  figure,  a  mere  conventional  memo- 
rial, an  agreement  that  on  certain  occasions  in  eating 
hrcad  and  drinking  wine,  they  should  think  of  his  flesh 
and  blood.  By  no  means.  The  great  difficulty  of  the 
real  presence  confronted  their  pride  and  blindness  of 
reason.  Jesus  Christ  asserted  that  he  would  give  his 
flesh  as  meat  indeed,  and  his  blood  as  drink  indeed, 
and  67.  "After  this  many  of  his  disciples  went  back  ; 
and  walked  no  more  "with  him." 

.  08.  "  Then  Jesus  said  to  the  twelve :  will  you  also  go 
away?"  69.  "And  Simon  Peter  answered  him:  Lord 
to  whom  shall  wc  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  Eter- 
nal life." 

'This  departure  of  disciples  was  caused  evidently  by 
the  difficulty  of  believing  and  accepting  his  doctrine. 
And  the  Saviour  knew  that  their  difficulty  did  not  arise 
from  a  misunderstanding  of  his  words,  bitf  from  an  un-' 
■willingness  to  believe  him  to  be  God  made,  man,  and,  on 
his  veracity,  to  accept  this* wonderful  mystery  of  his 
love  for  mankind,  the  real  presence.  Had  they  misun- 
derstood him,  he  could  easily  have  removed  their  mis- 
take, and  his  goodness  would  prompt  him  to  do  this.  ' 
But  apart  from  their  gross  conception  as  to  the  manner 
in  .which  his  flesh  would  be  given  to  them,  they  under- 
stood that  he  literally  required,  as  a  condition  of  spir- 
itual life,  that  they  should  eat  his  body  and  drink  his 
blood.  This  he  said  distinctly,  and  even  asseverated 
most  solemnly.  They  would  not  admit  him  to  be  more 
than  the  son  of  Joseph,  and  would  not  believe  his  words, 
and  therefore  left  him.  And  on  what  terms  did  the 
Apostles  remain. with  Christ?  On  the  only  terms  ia 
which  salvation  is  possible  for  men.  They  accepted* 
the  mystery  on  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ,  because  they 
believed  him  and  knew  him  to  be  the  Christ  the  Son  of 


THE   EUCHARIST   A  SACRAMENT.  1?5 

God.  "Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  Thy 
■word  for  us  is  enough.  "We  have  believed  and  have 
known  that  thou  art  the  Christ  the  Son  of  God." 

Besides  the  express  promise  of  Jesus  Christ  to  give 
himself  as  food,  the  proof  of  the  real  presence  from 
the  words  which  he  used  when  instituting  this  sacra- 
ment, is  of  itself  conclusive.  The  words  of  Christ,  un- 
derstood in  their  proper  and  natural  sense,  declare  his 
real  presence  in  the  sacrament.  Three  of  the  Evan- 
gelists, and  St.  Paul,  state  these  words  :  "  Take  ye  and 
eat;  This  is  my  body — Drink  ye  all  of  this;  for  this  is 
my  blood  of  the  New  Testament  which  shall  be  shed 
I'm-  many  unto  the  remission  of  sins."  Math,  xxvi: 
2(1— 28.  "Take  ye:  This  is  my  body.  This  is  my 
blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  shall  be  shed  for 
many."  Mark  xiv  :  22-24.  "This  is  my  body  which 
is  given  for  you — This  is  the  Chalice,  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  my  blood,  which  shall  be  shed  for  you."  Luke 
xxii :  19,-  20.  "Take  ye  and  eat,  this  is  my  body  which 
shall  be  delivered  (broken  or  sacrificed)  for  you.  Thia 
cup  is  the  New  Testament  in-my  blood."  1  Cor.  xi:  24, 
2o.  These  are  the  plain  words  of  the  institution.  If 
thej  are  to  be  understood  in  their  proper  and  literal 
sense,  they  prove  the  dogma  of  the  real  presence.  To 
give  a  figurative  sense  to  the  clear  words  of  Scripture, 
and  reject  their  proper  and  natural  meaning,  cannot 
lawfully  be  done,  without  some  other  grave  and  sufficient 
reason  than  the  difficulty  and  mystery  of  the  doctrine. 
The  sense^  in  which  the  Apostles  and  the  church  under- 
stood these  words  and  the  doctrine  established  in  chris- 

"  tendom,  is  their  true  meaning,  and  the  one  intended  by 
Jesus  Christ.  But  the  Apostles  declared  it  necessary 
to  "discern"  in  this  sacrament  the  body  of  Christ  as 
present;  they  announced  the  chalice  when  blessed  as, 
"the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ,"  and  the  bread 
as  "the  partaking  of  the  body  of  the   Lord."     1  Cor. 

i  xi  16,  andxi:  29.  The  church  and  all  Christians,  ex- 
;  the  followers  of  the  reformation,  have  through'  all 
g  understood  these  wordy  literally,  and  believed  the 

I  doctrine  of   the  real  presence.      Bcrcngarius,  in  t1 


1TC  THE   EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT. 

eleventh  century,  first  conceived  the  empty  notion  of  a 
figurative  presence,  which  places  this  sacrament  in  the 
category  -with  the  sacraments  of  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion, and  banishes  Jesus  Christ  from  his  sanctuary. 
The  Saviour  knew  that  the  Catholic  doctrine  would  be 
the  faith  which  his  church  would  establish  over  the 
whole  earth,  giving  men  to  fondly  believe  that  their 
God  would  condescend  to  dwell  in  their  midst,  and,  like 
the  vine  nourishing  its  branches,  would  make  them  live 
of  his  very  substance.  The  human  mind  never  could 
have  risen  to  imagine  such  a  doctrine,  or  have  presumed 
to  hope 'for  such  a  blessing,  had  the  Saviour  not  taught 
it  and  taken  measures  to  accomplish  it.  If  it  were  an 
error,  an  illusion,»he  could,  and  should,  as  the  light  of 
the  world  and  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  have  prevented 
his  words  from  being  so  understood,  and  so  cherished, 
by  his  church.  lie  did  not.  Therefore,  he  wishes 
mankind  to  believe  this  mystery  of  his  real  presence  in 
the  Eucharist. 

Moreover,  he  calls  this  institution  his  "testament  in 
his  blood."  lie  gives  it  on  the  eve  of  his  death,  and 
in  it  gives  to  his  church  all  that  is  to  enrich  her  and 
her  children  for  time  and  -eternity.  It  is  not  a  last 
will,  leaving  the  mere  plot  or  figure  of  the  testator's 
(state;  but  it  bequeathes  the  reality,  the  estate  and  in- 
heritance itself.  "The  Lord  is  my  portion  and  inheri- 
tance,'  writes  the  Royal  Prophet. 

Tra  nsu  bstantiation. 

The  doctrine  of  the  church  is,  that  "the  body,  blood, 
soul,  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  are  present  under 
the  forms  and  a ppea ranees  of  bread  and  toine."  It 
teaches  therefore  that  only  the  accidents  of  bread  and 
wine  are  in  the  sacrament,  and  that  their  substance  has 
been  changed  or  transubstantiated.  Hence  transub- 
stantiation  is  a  substantial  portion  of  the  doctrine.  In 
fact,  the  words  of  Christ,  "  this  is  nry  body,  this  is  my 
blood,"  cannot  be  true  literally,  unless  transubstantia* 
tion  be  understood  to  have  taken  place. 


THE   EUCIIARIST  A   SACRAMENT.  177 

You  must  suppose  the  body  of  Christ  present  by  im- 
panation,  by  consubstantiation,  or  by  transubstantia- 
tion.  The  first  two  modes  are  inconsistent  with  the 
truth  of  the  propositions  :  "  This  is  my  body,"  "  this  is 
my  blood."  Im^anation  supposes  such  a  union  between 
the  body  of  Christ  and  bread,  as  between  the  diviae 
and  human  natures  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  is,  a  hypostatic 
or  personal  union  ;  Jesus  Christ  becoming  bread  as  the 
Word  of  God  became  incarnate  ;  which  was  an  absurd 
notion  invented  by  Oseander,  but  denounced  by  the 
other  reformers. 

Consubstantiation  equally  conflicts  with  the  truth  of 
the  words  of  our  Saviour,  who  says  simply:  "this," 
and  not  "  in  this,"  or  "  with  this;"  aifd  his  words  could 
not  be  true  in  their  simple  signification,  if,  what  he  de- 
monstrated by  the  pronoun  "this,"  was  not  limited  to 
what  he  declared  at  the  termination  of  the  proposition. 
Besides,  consubstantiation  would  present  the  extraordi- 
nary condition  of  two  substances  contained  under  pro- 
perties peculiar  to  only  one  of  them,  withotit  any  au- 
thority in  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  to  justify  the  ad- 
mission of  such  a  doctrine.  To  say  that  a  thing  is  an- 
other, different  from  what  it  appears,  is  to  announce  a 
change,  especially  when' that  thing  is  not  by  nature 
suited  to  contain  the  other.  A  thing  suited  to  contain 
another,  and  used  for  that  purpose,  may  be  demonstra- 
ted as  that  other;  thus  a  man  may  show  a  purse  and 
say  "  this  is  gold,"  because  the  purs£  is  designed  to 
contain  money,  but  never  can  he  demonstrate  what  is 
not  by  nature  suited  to  contain  something  else,  and  say: 
"this  is  that 'other  thing,"  without,  at  the  same  time, 
by  the  very  force  of  the  language  announcing  a,  change. 
But  bread  is  not  by  nature,  nor  by  any  agreement 
aiming  men,  conceived  fitted  to  contain  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  his  showing  it  with  the  simple  speech: 
"  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body,"  shows  a  change  of  sub- 
stance, if  his  speech  be  true  in  its  whole  meaning.  If 
he  meant,  not  this,  he  was  bound  to  manifest  his  real 
meaning  by  an  explanation,  since  the  usages  of  men 
could  not  explain  his  calling  bread  his  body,  as  the  like 


178  THE   EUCnAMST  A   SACRAMENT. 

■was  never  heard  or  thought  of  among  men.  And  it  is 
to  be  remembered  the  speaker  was  God  as  well  as  man, 
ana  that  he  was  on  the  eve  of  his  death,  and  moreover 
lie  was  establishing  a  great  institution  or  sacrament  for 
all  mankind  of  all.  ages  of  the  -world*  and  he  had  the 
power  to  make  his  words  literally  true,  which  they  could 
be  only  in  the  case  that  he  by  his  power  changed  the 
substance,  by  the  operative  virtue  of  his  words,  and 
therefore  consubstantiation  cannot  be  maintained. 
Hence,  most  commonly,  it  is  admitted,  that  if  you  do 
not  regard  the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  as  merely  figu- 
rative, but  consider  it  true,  real,  and  substantial,  it  is 
necessary  from  the  very  force  of- these  words,  to  receive 
the  doctrine  of  fVansubstantiation. 

The  doctrine  of  Faith  is  clear  as  to  transubstantia- 
tion.  "  I  believe  and  profess  thai,  in  the  most  holy  sac- 
ment  of  the  Eucharist,  there  is  made  a  conversion  of 
the  whole  substance  of  the  bread  into  the  body,  and  of 
the- whole  substance  of  the  wine  into  the  blood,  which 
conversion  the  Catholic  church  calls  transubstantiation." 
— Creed  of  Pius  TV. 

"If  any  one  saith,  that  in  the  sacred  and  holy  sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist,  the  substance  of  the  bread  and 
wine  remains  conjointly  with  the  body  and  blood  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  denieth  that  wonderful  and 
singular  conversion  of  the  whole  substance  of  the  bread 
into  the  body,  and  of  the  whole  substance  of  the  wine 
into  the  blood — the  species  only  of  the  bread  and  wine 
remaining — which  conversion  indeed  the  Catholic  church 
most  aptly  calls  transubstantiation  ;  let  him  be  anathe- 
ma.''— Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  XIII,  Can.  2d. 

"And  because  that  Christ,  our  Redeemer,  declared 
that  which  He  offered  under  the  species  of  bread  to  be 
truly  his  own  body,  therefore  has  it  ever  been  a  firm 
belief  in  the  church  of  God,  and  this  holy  synod  doth 
now  declare  it  anew,  that,  by  the  consecration  of  the 
bread  and  wine,  a  conversion  is  made  of  the  whole  sub- 
stance of  the  bread  into  the  .substance  of  the  body  of 
Christ  our  Lord,  and  of  the  whole  substance  of  the 
wine  into  the  substance  of  His  blood;  which  con ver- 


THE   EUCHARIST  A   SACRAMENT.  179 

sion  is,  by  the  holy  Catholic  church,  suitably  and  prop- 
erly called  transubstantiation." — Ibid,  ch.  3,  on  Tran- 
aubstajfttiation.  ,  • 

These  show  precisely  what  is  of  faith,  a!  to  this  won- 
derful change,  of  which  its  author,  in  his  first  miracle  at 
Cana  of  Gallilce,  when  he  converted  water  into  wine, 
when  'khis  hour  had  not  yet  come,"  gave  assurance  by 
his  exercise  of  omnipotence,  for  at  the  eve  of  his  death, 
and  when  about  to  consummate  his  great  work  his  hour 
had  comr,  and  he  exerts  his  omnipotence  in^effecting 
this  stupendous  conversion  of  the  substance  of  the 
bread  and  wine  into  the  substance  of  hie  body  and 
blood.  It  is  not  of  faith,  that  the  substance  of  the  bread 
and  wine  are  transubstantiated  into  the  body  and  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  same  way  as  these  substances  are 
transubstantiated  into  our  bodies  when  we  eat  them  as 
food.  Nor  is  it  of  faith,  that  in  any  of  the  transub- 
stantiations  which  take  place  in  nature,  we  can  find 
something  that  is  just  like  to  this  miraculous  conver- 
sion, for  this  is  <a  conversion  to  which  no  other  can  pro- 
perly be  assimulated.  To  say  that  G'od,  by  the  gene; 
ral  laws  of  nature,  effects  different  transubstantiations, 
which  He  is  able  to  effect  without  the  intervention  of  sec- 
ondary causes,  may  assist  the  mind  to  accept  this  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation,  but  does  not  aid  it  to  comprehend 
the  mystery  itself,  which  is  an  object  of  faith.  The 
mystery  of  Christ's  real  presence  being  assented  to  by 
faith  and  believed,  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation 
cannot  be  a  difficulty  to  the  mind,  as  this  doctrine  seems 
but  to  require  in  addition  a  belief,  that  by  an  exercise 
of  God's  power,  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  Avine 
cease  to  be  there  present  under  their  properties.  This 
cessation  is  -caused  by  a  conversion  not  comprehensible 
to  us,  but  possible  to  God,  who. created  things  and  their 
properties,  and  holds  supreme  dominion  over  both,  and 
who  can  by  his  omnipotence,  do  as  he  pleases  either  with 
the  substance  or  the  accidents  of  the  things  which  He 
has  created.  We  are  not  required  to  understand,  but 
to^  believe  this  conversion. 

%'  The  accidents, at  Least  primarily,  indicate  the  proper 


1,80  THE   EUCHARIST  A   SACRAMENT. 

substance  as  long  as  it  is  there,  but  not  another  sub- 
stance, and  thus  showing  some  body  in  which  God  in 
fact  is,  no  one  can  truly  announce  ;  this  is  God  ;  and  if 
an  angel  were  in  some  thing  or  body,  no  one  showing 
that  body  could  truly  and  properly  say:  this  is  an  an-' 
gel;  bnt  to  speak  truly,  he  ought  to  say:  here  is  an 
angel,  that  is  in  this  place,  in  this  body.  Since  the  de- 
monstrative pronoun  this,  directed  to  accidents  which 
are  perceived,  does  not  demonstrate  these  accidents  but 
the  substance  under  them,  and  this  substance  properly 
is  not  only  primarily,  but  alone  demonstrated ;  it  fol- 
lows that  the  proper  substance  being  present,  another 
cannot  be  demonstrated.  But  on  the  contrary,  if  the 
proper  substance  be  not  under  its  own  accidents,  but 
another  substance  be  there,  that  other  is  rightly,  and 
even  necessarily  demonstrated.  "When  therefore  Jesus 
Christ,  after  he  took  bread,  truly  declares,  that  what 
he  offered  under  those  species,  is  his  body  ;  and  having 
received  the  chalice  with  wine,  that  what  he  offered  to 
them  under  those  species,  is  his  blood,  he  could  not 
truly  predicate  these  words  of  the  substance  itself  of 
the  bread  and  wine,  as  is  plain,  nor  of  his  natural  body 
and  blood,  if  they  were  to  remain  together  with  the 
substance  of  the  bread  and  wine  under  the  proper  spe- 
cies of  these  latter  substances,  as  is  proved  above,  and 
it  must  necessarily  be,  that  the  substance  of  the  bread 
and  wine  ceases  to  be  there,  and  the  sole  substance  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  remains  under  those 
accidents  or  appearances.  In  a  word,  to  the  real  pres- 
ence of  Jesus  Christ  transubstantiation  adds  nothing 
but  the  departure  or  absence  of  the  substance  of  the 
bread  and  wine  in  virtue  of  the  signification  of  the 
words,  or  that  the  words  of  Christ  may  be  true,  and  by 
the  name,  transubstantiation,  this  is  what  may  be  un- 
derstood."* How  any  one  can  admit  the  doctrine  of 
the  real  presence,  and  hesitate  to  receive  that  of  tran- 
substantiation seems  strange,  since  to  receive  the  words 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  literally  true,  it  is  necessary  to  ad- 
, — . . • 

*Vasquez  Dis,  p.  180.     Cap.  4. 


THE  EUCHARIST  A  SACRAMENT.        181 

mit  that,  in  becoming  present  in  the  sacrament,  and  an- 
nouncing himself  as  there  present,  his  "words  do  not  al- 
low the  idea  that  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine 
continues  still  to  remain. 


Other  Points  in  the  Doctrine. 

The  doctrine  of  Faith  also  is,  that  in  this  sacrament 
of  the  Eucharist  each  species,  that  of  the  bread  and 
that  of  the  wine,  or  each  separated  part  of  these, 
contains  Jesus  Christ  whole  and  entire.  As  St.  l'mil 
says:  "Whoever  catcth  this  bread  or  drinketh  this  cup 
unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  the  blood 
of  the  Lord."  1  Cor.  xi:  27.  Therefore  to  receive 
under  either  species  unworthily,  is  to  profane  the  whole; 
to  receive  worthily  under  cither,  is  to  receive  the  whole. 
"  Christ  having  risen  from  the  dead  dieth  now  no  more," 
§he  is  living,  glorious,  and  cannot  be  divided.  The  veil 
that  conceals  him,  the  sensible  sign  may  be  divided,  but 
not  Jesus  Christ  himself.  His  death  is  mystically  shown 
in  the  separate  consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine,  and 
he  instituted  the  Eucharist  under  both  the  forms  as  it 
is  a  sacrifice  to  memorialize  his  passion  and  death,  but 
his  presence  is.  the  same  under  either  as  under  both. 
Hence  the  lawfulness  for  the  church  to  give  communion 
under  either  form  or  kind,  if  she  establishes  it  as  her 
discipline,  and  hence  the  fact  that  it  is  now  the  discip- 
line of  the  church  to  give  communion  to  the  people 
only  under  the  form  of  bread.  "He  that  cateth  this 
bread  shall  live  forever."     John  vi:  59. 

It  is  also  of  faith  that  Jesus  Christ  is  present  in  this 
sacrament  in  a  permanent  manner,  and  as  long  as  the 
species  remain  in  their  natural  condition.  As  the  coun- 
cil of  Trent  declares  "  The  rest  of  the  sacraments  then 
first  have  the  virtue  of  sanctifying-  when  any  one  re- 
ceives them ;  but  the  author  of  sanctity  is  himself  in 
the  Eucharist  before  it  is  used;  for  the  Apostles  had 
not  as  yet  received  the  Eucharist  from  the  hand  of  the 
Lord,  when  he  himself  truly  affirmed  what  he  was  giv- 


182  THE   EUCIIARIST   A   SACRAMENT. 

ing  them,  to  be  his  body."*  Before  the  Apostles  eat, 
Jesus  Christ  says  "this  is  my  body,"  and,  in  St.  Ma* 
thew,  speakitfg  of  their  drinking,  he  uses  the  word /or, 
as  if  he  were  furnishing  the  reason  why  they  should 
drink,  "Drink  ye  all  of  this,  For  this  is  my  blood." 
It  is  because  it  is  his  blood  that  they  should  all  drink 
of  it.  He  is  then  in  the  sacrament  before  its  recep- 
tion, and  independently  of  the  receiver,  and  therefore 
he  is  there  in  a  permanent  manner. 

It  is  of  faith,  that  Jesus  Christ,  present  in  the  Eu- 
charist, is  to  be  adored  there  with  supreme  worship 
called  latria,  or  with  such  worship  as  cannot,  without 
sin,  be  given  to  any  one  but  God.  The  .church,  hold- 
ing the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity  and  Incarnation,  and 
teaching  the  real,  true,  and  substantial  presence  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  holy  Eucharist,  must  necessarily 
hold,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  there  to  be  adored,  and  to  be 
therein  exposed  for  .the  veneration  and  adoration  of 
Christians. 

As  the  Catholic  believes  that  only  Jesus  Christ  is 
present  under  the  accidental  forms  and  appearances  of 
bread  and  wine,  and  that  there  remains  nothing  of  the 
substance  of  bread  and  wine,  his  adoration  is  directed 
to  Jesus  Christ  only,  and  cannot  be  referred  to  the  ma- 
terial substance  of  bread  and  wine,  which  no  longer,  in 
his  faith,  is  there  at  all.  With  this  belief,  he  cannot 
then,  as  unbelievers  affect  to  think,  be  in  any  danger  of 
adoring  bread  and  wine.  The  veil  itself,  which  con- 
ceals Jesus  Christ,  may  be  venerated  and  reverenced, 
but  adoration  in  its  strict  sense  can  only  be  given  to  the 
incarnate  God,  who  is  hidden  beneath,  and,  in  contem- 
plating the  host,  the  Catholic  ever  remembers  his  faith 
that  his  God  has  wonderfully  made  himself  present  in 
this  holy  sacrament. 

Of  the  Matter  and  Form  of  the  Eucharist. 

The  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  is  found  in  the  ex- 

*Ses5.  XIII,  c  iij.^ 


, 


THE    EUCJIARIRT    A    SACRAMENT.  188 

ternal  sign,  or  the  species,  together  with  the  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  hence  the  whole  sacrament 
may  bo  designated  either  by  naming  the  species  or  by 
naming  the  body  and  blood-of  Jesus  Christ.* 

The  matter  used  for  this  sacrament  is  two-fold,  wheat 
bread,  either  leavened  or  unleavened, *  and  the  wine, 
which  is  the  natural  juice  of  the  grape.  Breads  made 
from  other  kinds  of  grain,  or  wines  made  from  other 
fruits,  not  having  been  selected  by  Jesus  Christ,  Will 
not  serve  as  the  matter  for  this  sacrament.  In  the 
vine,  when  it  is  about  to  be  consecrated,  from  the  ear- 
liest antiquity,  both  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  church,  a 
little  water  is  mixed,  1st,  because  from  tradition  it  is 
believed  the  same  was  done  by  Jesus  Christ;  2dly,  be- 
cause of  the  water  and  blood  that  flowed  from  his  side 
on  the  cross;  Srdly,  to  symbolize  the  people,  as  united 
with  their  head,  who  is  Christ;  and,  4thly,  to  signify 
the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ.  Yet,  if  omitted, 
the  sacrament  would  still  exist  ;  the  omission,  if  volun- 
tary, would  however* be  a  mortal  sin,  as  stated  by  the 
Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 

Theologians  most  commonly  consider  the  words  used 
by  the  Saviour  in  the  institution  of  this  sacrament  as 
its  form.  Like  the  matter  it  is  twofold.  The  words  : 
'"This  is  my  body,"  this  is  my- blood,-"  or  "this  is'the 
"chalice  of  my  *blood,"  pertain  to  the  essence  of  the 
form.     Yet  the  whole  form,  as  given  in  the  liturgy, 


\ 


*The  Catholic  churcfa  uses  unleavened  broad  ;  the  Greek  leav- 
ened. The  anecdote  about  some  ladyhaving  asked  to  be  allowed 
to  prepare  the  host,  and,  in  doing  so.  put  poison  in  it,  telling  the 
priest  of  the  fact,  only  alter  consecration  and  before  communion, 
and  he  being  ttfraid  To  consume  it,  is  simply  absurd  to  any  due  w  ho 
knows  the  Catholio  doctrine.  Poison,  it  other  substances,  than 
simple  bread  »of  wheat,  and  natural  wine,  were  not  chosen  by 
Christ  for  this   sacrament,  ana,  being  wickedly  introduced,  must 

have  their  effect,  unless  prevented  by  a  mil  aele,  which  has  not  been 
promised  by  our  Saviour.  A  priest  mighl  well  fear  the  natural  ef- 
fect of  poison,  when  be  knew  thai  his  faith  gave  him  no  authority 
to  believe  that  Ged  would  change  h  because  found  in  the  boa*  con- 
secrated at  mass.  Bu]  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  person  who 
would  put  it  into  the  host,  knowing  that  such  host  was  to  be  con- 
secrated at  the  altar  of  God  in  the  solemn  sacrifice  of  religion. 


184  THE   EUCHARIST  A   SACRAMENT. 

must  be  used  by  ecclesiastical  if  not  apostolical  direc- 
tion, and  this  form  covers  all  the  questions  of  theolo- 
gians as  to  what  is,  or  is  not  essential. 

Of  the  Minister  of  the  Eucharist. 

The  ministers  of  this  sacrament  may  be  distinguished 
into  those  "who  have  the  power  to  make  this  sacrament, 
and  those  who  can  distribute  it..  It  is  of  faith,  that  the 
dignity  of  the  priesthood  is  necessary  to  qualify  a. per- 
son to  make  this  sacrament,  or  to  consecrate  the  bread 
and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Hence,  only  bishops  and  priests  have  this  power,  for 
such  only  were  present  when  Jesus  Christ  said :  "  do 
this  for  a  commemoration  of  me."  It  has  been  held  at 
all  times  in  the  church  as  a  settled  point  of  faith,  though 
denied  by  heretics,  that  bishops  and  priests  only  can 
offer  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice  and  consecrate  the  Eucha- 
rist. Deacons,  have,  however,  been  permitted  to  dis- 
tribute the  Eucharist,  and  even  lay  persons,  in  time  of 
persecution,  to  take  this  holy  sacrament  with  them  to 
their  homes,  and  to  partake  of  it  on  opportune  occa- 
sions. 

Of  the  Subject  to  Receive  the  Inicharist. 

The  suitable  subject  for  receiving  this  sacrament  is  a 
baptized  person,  who  is  in  a  state  of  grace.  "Let  a 
man  prove  himself  and  so  let  him  eat  that  bread,  and 
drink  of  the  chalice,  for  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh 
unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh  judg'ment'  to  himself, 
not  discerning  the  body  of  the  Lord."*  .The  church 
has  varied  in  her  discipline  ab»ut  giving  this  sacrament 
to  infants,  or  to  public  sinners,  even  after  repentance. 
She  positively  excludes  the  unbaptized,  those  who  do 
nut  profess  the  true  faith,  and  ihe  excommunicated. 

*  1  Cor.  xi:  2S,  29. 


THE  EUCHARIST  A  BACRAMBNT.       185 


'  Of  the  Necessity  of  this  Sacrament. 

It  is  certain  that  the  holy  Eucharist,  as  a  sacrament, 
was  not  instituted  to  confer  the  first  grace,  or  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  and  the  church  has  decided  that  it  is 
not  absolutely  necessary  for  children  before  they  have 
attained  the  age  of  discretion.  These  arc  regenerated 
by  baptism  and  united  to  the  mystic  body  of  Christ.  If 
it  be  not  absolutely  necessary  as  a  means  for  adults,  it 
is  morally  necessary,  by  a  positive  command,  and  a  per- 
son, for  positively  disobeying  this  command,  and  for 
not  having  either  actually,  or  at  least  in  desire,  received 
this  sacrament  from  indifference  or  indisposition,  would 
be  excluded  from  salvation.  Yet  as  to  the  time,  when 
those  who  arrive  at  sufficient  age  to  be  instructed  and 
received  to  holy  communion,  are  to  be  admitted,  the 
pastor  and  confessor  must  be  allowed  to  judge.  Par- 
ents ought  not  to  use  their  authority  to  keep  back  their 
children  from  the  holy  communion,  as  some  do.  when 
the  pastor  thinks  them  sufficiently  prepared,  and  of  a 
sufficient  age  to  receive  this  sacrament. 

Of  the  Effects  of  the  Eucharist. 

The  fact  that  this  sacrament  contains  the"  fountain, 
source,  and  principle  of  all  good,  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  its  effects  are  manifold  and  inestimable.  Some  of 
the  chief  of  them  are  the  following  :  1st.  It  causes  an 
intimate  union  of  the  Christian  with  Jesus  Christ;  as' 
St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  says :  Christians  are  concor- 
.porci  et  consanguinci  Ohristi,  united  in  body  and  blood 
with  Christ*  2dly.  It  gives  grace  to  nourish  the  soul 
as  food  does  the  body.  odly.  It  remits  venial  sin,  and 
is  the  remedy  of  daily  spiritual  infirmity.  4thly.  It 
preserves  those  who  receive  it  worthily  from  future  sins. 
Othly.  It  has  great  virtue  in  assisting  to  obtain  eternal 
life ;  and,  finally,  it  is  the  pledge  of  a  glorious  resur- 
rection and  of  eternal  happiness, 


180  THE    EUCHARIST   A   SACRIFICE. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

the  eucharist  as  a  sacrifice — the  mars — the 
christian  religion  has  a  public  sacrifice — the 
body  of  christ,  the  acceptable  victim  of  sacri- 
fice, on  the  cross  and  in  the  eucharist — proofs 
that  the  mass  is  a  true  sacrifice — of  the  mat- 
ter and  form — its  effects  or  properties — its 
Minister — of  the  language  in  which  it  is  of- 
fered— TO  WHOM,  AXD  FOR  WHOM  IT  IS  OFFERED! 

In  general,  sacrifice  is  an  offering  which  we  make  to 
God  in -token  of  our  dependence  and  submission.     It 

may  be  interior,  6uch  as  faith,  charity,  prayer,  &c.,  or 
external,  consisting  of  some  exterior  thing,  which  we 
offer  to  God,  as  the  body  offered  in  martyrdom,  or  by 
abstinence  or  continence.  •  Sacrifice,  in  its  enlarged 
sense,  includes  all  sorts  of  good  works  done  for  the  pur- 
pose or  giving  honor  to  God,  but  in  its  restricted  sense, 
is  an  offering  made  to  Ged  of  sonic  exterior  thing  im- 
molated "in  honor  of  him.  Exterior  sacrifice  may  be 
defined  thus :  sacrifice  is  the  oblation  or  offering  of 
some  sensible  thing  made  to  God  by  a  lawful  mini 
and  with  a  sacred  rite,  to  acknowledge,  by  the  destruc- 
tion or  other  change  of  the  thing,  the  sovereign  domin- 
ion of  God,  and  our  subjection  to  him,  and  to  render 
him  due  homage. 

<  When  we  consider  the  history  of  man  from  the  be- 
ginning, we  find  that  external  sacrifice  constituted  the 
utial  act  of  religion,  the  principal  part,  and,  as  it 
were,'  the  soul  of  the  worship  which  men  rendered  to 
God.  By  means  of  victims,  immolated,  destroyed;  or 
changed  upon  the  altars  of  religion,  men  recognized 
their  sinfulness,  their  dependence,  the  necessity  of  ex- 
piation, and  God  ad  holiness.  Under 
the  natural  law,  as  well  as  under  the  Mosaic  dispei 
tion,  there  were  numerous  sacrifices  of  different  kinds. 
The   Old  Testament  exhibits  three  sorts— The   holo- 


THE    EUCHARIST   A   SACRIFICE.  187 

canst,  the  pacific  offerings,  and  the  victim  for  sin. 
In  the  first,  the  whole  victim- was  consumed  by  fire,  to 
testify  the  perfect  and  entire  dominion  of  God,  and 
the  entire  respect  and  homage  due  to  his  majest}-.  The 
peace  offering  contemplated  two  ends — -1st,  to  return 
thanks  for  benefits  received,  iMly,  to  ask  other  favours 
or  aids  from  God.  The  sacrifices  for  sin  were  offered 
expressly  by  way  of  expiation  and  atonement  for  sin. 

The  Body  of  Christ  the  Acceptable  Victim. 

These  sacrifices  derived  their  value  from  the  fact  that 
they  were  figures  and  shadows  of  the  great  sacrifice, 
which  the  Incarnate  son  of  God  was  to  offer  to  his 
eternal  Father  on  the  cross,  immolating  himself  as  a 
substitute  for 'the  human  race,  and  as  the  price  of  their 
redemption;  The  sacrifice  of  the  cross  was  to  perfect, 
accomplish,  and  abolish  all  anterior  sacrifices.  In  it, 
Jesus  Christ  was  both  priest  and  victim  ;  consumed  as 
a  holocaust  by  the  fire  of  his  charity  ;  &  peace  offering 
by  way  of  Infinite  thanksgiving  for  all  benefits,  am!  of 
impetration  for  all  graces  and  favours  to  be  dispensed 
to  men;  a  sacrifice  of  expiation  and  propitiation 
For  the  remission  of  all  the  sins  of  all  mankind.  In 
•abolishing  the  shadows  and  figures  of  the  ancient  sac- 
rifices, lie  introduced  the  truth  and  reality,  by  his  own 
eternal  priesthood,  and  by  means  of  "the  body  which 
had  been  fitted  to  him,"  for  this  purpose,  when  he  said, 
"  behold  I  come."* 

"  Sacrifice  and  oblation  thou  wouldst  not ;  but  a  body 
thou  has  fitted  to  me  :"  "Therefore,"  says  St.  Augus- 
tine, "  thou  didst  not  desire  sacrifice  and  obla- 
tion. What  then  V  Have  we  been  left,  in  this  time, 
without  a  sacrifice  ?  Far  from  it.  For  thou  hast  fitted 
to  me  a  body,  therefore  thou  wouldst  not  have  those 
(sacrifices,)  that  thou  mightest  perfect  this.  Thou  didst 
will  those  before  thou  hadst  this." v 


Hcb.  x:  5-7.        f  St.  Aug,  on  £«.  xx.vx. 


188  THE    EUCHARIST   A   SACRIFICE. 


The  Mass — The  Christian  Religion  has  a  Public  Sac- 
rifice. 

The  body  of  Christ  was  to  be  the  means,  for  the  ob- 
lation of*  .sacrifice,  after  the  abolition  of  the  figurative 
sacrifices  of  the  ancient  law.  Jesus  Christ  immolated 
himself  on  the  cross,  by  a  bloody  sacrifice,  and  dying 
once  for  all,  for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  all,  atoned 
for  all  sins  superabundantly,  and  this  sacrifice  is  the 
only  absolute,  perfect  sacrifice,  to  which  every  other 
must  be  referred  ;  and  the  victim  being  of  an  infinite 
value  needed  only  thus  to  be  offered  once  in  death.  The 
sacrifice  of  the  cross  is  then  the  only  sacrifice  that  me- 
rited redemption.  But  "  in  this  time"  are  we  left  with- 
out a  sacrifice?"  "Far  from  it."  Because  the  same 
sacrifice  of  the  cross  is  represented  and  commemorated 
in  a  true  sacrifice;  the  same  high  priest,  Jesus  Christ, 
continues  to  fulfill  his  eternal  priesthood,  by  offering 
the  same  body,  in  an  unbloody  manner  upon  the  altar* 
of  his  religion,  and  by  the  hands  of  his  chosen  minis- 
ters who  are  the  dispensers  of  his  mysteries.  Religion, 
in  the  gospel  dispensation,  shall  still  possess  its  essen- 
tial act,  and  external  sacrifice  shall  still  manifest  God's 
sovereignty  and  man's  dependence,  and,  through  the 
lapse  of  ages,  Calvary  and.its  bloody  scene  shall,  "from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof,"  in  re- 
ality as  to  the  victim  and  the  high  priest,  but  in  an  un- 
bloody and  mystic  manner,  be  perpetually  kept  before 
the  view  of  God  and  men,  for  the  honor  and  glory  of 
God,  and  for  the  salvation  of  men.  This  memorial 
sacrifice  of  the  new  law  is  termed  the  Mass.  As  to  its 
essence,  it  is  the  same  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
was  offered  once  for  all,  but,  by  reason  of  the  manner 
it  is  different.  As  far  as  it  is  the  same,  it  is  a  renewed 
offering  by  Jesus  Christ  of  himself  to  his  Father,  but 
he  offers  himself  in  a  manner,  no  longer  intended  as 
paying  the  price  of  redemption,  which  has  been  already 
paid  and  accepted,  but  for  perpetuating  the  remem- 
brance of  it,  and  applying  its  salutary  virtue  for  th« 


THE   EUCIIARI3T   A   SACRIFICE.  18i» 

remission  of  sins,  daily  committed  by  men.  Its  virtue 
is  derived  from  the 'sacrifice  of  the  cross.  But  it  is  in 
the  full  and  strict  sense  of  the  word,  a  sacrifice.  There 
is  a  real  victim,  really  and  truly  offered,  by  a  legitimate 
minister  and  by  a  sacred  rite,  to  thank  God  for  his  ben- 
efits, to  ask  favors  and  graces  from  him,  to  render  him 
propitious,  to  satisfy  for  sins,  and  to  express  his  sover- 
eignty and  our  dependence.  This  doctrine  is  thus 
stated  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  "  lie,  therefore,  our 
God  and  Lord,  though  he  was  about  to  offer  himself 
once  on  the  altar  of  the  cross  unto  God,  the  Father, 
by  means  of  his  death"  there  to  operate  "an  eternal 
redemption  ;"  nevertheless,  because  that  his  priesthood 
was  not  to  be  extinguished  by  his  death,  in  the  last  sup- 
per, on  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed — that  he 
might  leave  to  his  own  beloved  spouse,  the  church,  a 
visible  sacrifice,  such  as  the'  nature  of  man  requires, 
whereby  thiit  bloody  sacrifice,  once  to  be  accomplished 
on  the  cross,  migh,t  be  represented,  and  the  memory 
thereof  remain  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  and  its 
salutary  virtue  be  applied  to  the  remission  of  those  sins 
which  we  daily  commit,— declaring  himself  constituted 
"  a  priest  forever,  according  to  the  order  of  Melchise- 
dec/c,"  he  offered  up  to  God  the  Father  his  own  body 
and  blood  under  the  species  of  bread  and  wine;  and, 
under  the  symbols  of  those  same  things,  he  delivered 
(his  own  body  and  blood)  to  be  received  by  his  Apos- 
tles, whom  he  then  constituted  priests  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament; and  by  those  words,  Do  this  in  commemora- 
tion of  me,  he  commanded  them  and  their  successors  in 
the  priesthood,  to  offer  (them) ;  even  as  the  Catholic 
church  has  understood  and  taught.  For  having  cele- 
brated the  aneientPassovcr,  which  the  multitude  of  the 
children  of  Israel  immolated  in  memory  of  their  going 
out  of  Egypt,  he  instituted  the  new  passover,  (to  wit,) 
himself  to  be  immolated,  under  visible  signs,  by  the 
church  through  (the  ministry  of)  priests,  in  memory  of 
his  own  passage  from  this  world  unto  the  Father,  when 
by  the  effusion  of  his  own  blood,  he  redeemed  us,  and 
"delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  trans- 


190  THE    EUCHARIST   A   SACRIFICE. 

luted  us  into  Ills  kingdom."  And  this  is.  indeed  that 
clean  oblation-,  which  cannot  be  defiled  by  any  unwor- 
thiness,  or  malice  of  those  that  offer  (it) ;  -which  the 
Lord  foretold  by  Malachias  was  to  be  "  off ered  in  every- 
place, clean  to  his  name,  which  was  to  be  great  among 
the  G entiles  ;"  and  which  the  Apostle  Paul,  writing  to 
the  Corinthians,  has  not  obsurely  indicated,  when  he 
say?,  that  they  who  are  defiled  by  "  the  participation 
of  the  table  of  devils,  cannot  be  the  partakers  of  the 
table  of  the  Lord  ;"  by  the  table,  meaning  in  both  places 
the  altar.  This,  in  fine,  is  that  oblation  which  was  pre- 
figured by  various  types  of  sacrifices,  during  the  period 
of  nature',  and  of  the  law  :  inasmuch  as  it  comprises 
all  the  good  things  signified  .by  those  sacrifices,  as  being 
the  consummation  and  perfection  of  them  all.*" 

Proofs  that  the  Mass  is  a  True  Sacrifice. 

There  is  no  reason  why-  the  same. thing  that  is  a  sac- 
rifice should  not  be  also  a  sacrament,  since,  as  a  sacri- 
fice, it  is  offered  to  God,  as  a  sacrament,  it  is  used  by 
men.  And,  indeed,  in  the  ancient  sacrifices,  besides 
what  was  immolated  or  sacrificed  to  God,  there  was  al- 
ways also"  some  part  to  be  partaken  of  by  the  priests, 
or  by  the  priests  and  people. 

To  show  that  the  mass  is  a  true  sacrifice,  many  proofs 
may  be  adduced,  but  as  we  are  .rather  engaged  in  stat- 
ing the  doctrines  of  religion  than  in  proving  them,  we 
shall  content  ourselves  with  referring  only  to  some  of 
these  proofs. 

And  first,  these  words  of- the  Prophet  Malachy  de- 
serve consideration  :  "I  have  no  pleasure  in  you,  ssith 
the  Lord  of  hosts  :  and  I  will  not  receive  a  gift  of  your 
hand.  For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the  going 
down,  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles,  and  in 
every  place  there  is  sacrifice,  and  there  is  offered  to  ray 
narae  a  clean  oblation  :  for  my  name  is  great  among 
the' Gentiles,  saith  the' Lord  of  hosts."  f 


•CoUneH  Treni,  Sea-,  xxii  :   </.  1.     jMalacli.  i:    10,  11. 


-     THE   BUCIIARIST   A   SACRIFICE.  191 

It  is  .clear  here  that  God  speaks  of  a  new  sacrifice 
as  contrasted  with  the  old  ones,  and  as  incompatible 
with  them ;  he  rejects  these  last,  and  finds  his  glory  in 
the  one  to  which  he-refer^  as  in  the  future.  He  can- 
not then  mean  a  simple  interior  sacrifice  of  any  kind, 
because  no  interior  or  spiritual  sacrifice  is  incompatible 
With  the  sacrifices  of  the  law,  hut  would  rather  give 
value  to  these,  and  make  them  more  acceptable  to 
God. 

It  is  also  clear,  that  he  speaks  of  an  external  sacri- 
fice, first,  because  he  contrasts  it  With  the  external  sac- 
rifices of  the  law,  and  refers  to  it  as  substituted  to  thorn 
and  taking  their  place;  and,  secondly,  this  new  sacri- 
fice is  "to.  proclaim  his  name  great  among  the  Gcntil 
and  hence  must  be  visible  and  external.  It  is  further 
manifest  that  he  contrasts  this  new  and  future  sacrifice 
with  the  old  ones,  as  to  the  places  in  which  the  offering 
is  to  be  made.  For  the  .ancient  sacrifices  could  only  be 
offered  in  one  place,  and  this  shall  b<J  offered  in  every 
place,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun.  From 
this,  it  is  evident  that  he  speaks  of  a  sacrifice  properly 
so  called,  the  oblation,  by  a  sacred  rite,  of  some  exter- 
nal, sensible  thing,  since  otherwise  it  could  not  be  a 
marvel,  that  interior  spirtual  sacrifices,  such  as  praise 
and  prayer,  might  be  offered  to  God  in  all  places,  for 
the  law  only  restricted"  external  sacrifices  to  one  place, 
and  one  temple,  but  not  prayers  antl  spiritual  acts. 

Besides,  it  is  evident  that  God  here  refers  to  some- 
thing that'  shall  show  he  has  the  nations,  the  Gentiles, 
as  his  people,  and  as  contributing  to  his  honor  by  their 
public  worship,  just  as  the-  sacrifices  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  were  a  mark  that  he  was  adored  and  rever- 
enced by  the  Jewish  people.  This  homage  and  sub- 
mission of  the  Gentiles  must  be  a  supreme  public  hom- 
age to  God — an  adoration,  by  the  chief  and  only  in- 
communicable act  of  religion,  which  is  sacrifice,  an  act 
of  religion  which  is  due  to  God,  and  only  to  God.  It 
must,  consequently,  be  a  recognition  and  adoration  of 
God  by  an  external  public  worship.  In  fact,  no  other 
religious  acU,  whether  private  or  public,  can  announce 


92  THE    EUCHARIST   A    SACRIFICE. 

the  greatness  and  glory  of  God  as  docs  the  act  of  a 
public  sacrifice,  and  God  therefore  evidently  speaks  of 
such  an  act  of  public  worship  in  this  prophecy,  show- 
ing, that  as  the  Jewish  sacuifices  proclaimed  his  glory 
as  God  timid  the  Jewish  people,  being  offered  only  in 
the  temple,  in  the  future,  his  glory  should  in  every  plaee 
be  proclaimed  among  the  Gentiles  by  a  public  sacrifice, 
of  far  superior  worth.  For  this  shall  be  emphatically 
"a  clean  oblation,"  and  therefore  not  anything  coming 
merely  from  man,  not  merely  praise,  prayer,  good  works 
or  i  fbntrite  heart,  which,  like  everything  of  man,  beat 
t lie  stamp  of  man's  imperfections,  and  cannot  be  abso- 
lutely dignified  with  the  title  of  "clean"  or  "pure." 
But  this  victim  shall  be  pure  and  holy,  and  in  tho 
strictest  sense  "clean." 

Now,  has  this  prophecy  been  fulfilled?  And  what 
fulfilled  it,  if  not  the  sacrifice  of  the  Eucharist,  or 
the  Mass?  The  Mass  is  offered'  every  where  as  a  sac- 
rifice, and  it  contains  the  adorable  victim  of  Calvary 
really  present,  and  is  therefore,  in  the  most  absolute 
(Iran  or  pure  oblation,  and  announces  the  glo- 
ry of  God  as  nothing  else  can,  by  representing,  as  if 
in  death,  his  only  son  whose  .sacrifice  on  the  cross  hon- 
ored the  majesty  of  God  equal  to  what  it  is,  though  it 
is  infinil 

Hearing  in  mind  that  God  desires  to  be  worshipped 
by  men  in  a  public, 'social  manner,  as  well  as  privately, 
and  that  the  Christian  religion  was  established  to  gath- 
er into  one  church  or  society  all  the  followers  of  Jesus  . 
Christ,  and  that  this  society  must  have  its  public  act 
of  supreme  worship,  which  is  sacrifice,  let  any  one  show, 
if  possible,  some  act  of  public  worship  which  is  a  true 
oblation,  aud  which  accomplishes  this  prediction  of 
Malachy.  lie  can  point  to  nothing  unless  he  admits 
the  Eucharist  to  be  a  true  sacrifice,  since,  from  the 
days  of  the  Apostles,  only  the  Mass,  and  nothing  else, 
except  that  of  the  cross,  has  among  Christians  been  de- 
signated and  dignified  with  the  name  of  sacrifice,  or 
oblation  in  its  strict  and  appropriate  sense. 

A  second  proof,  that  the  Eucharist  is  a  true  sacrifice, 


THE   EUCHJLRIST   A   SACRIFICE.  193 

is  founded  on  the  declaration  of  the  Psalmist,  and  of 
St.  Paul,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  priest  forever,  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  Melchisedeck."*  The  principal  of- 
fice, of  a  priest,  is  to  offer  sacrifice,  for,  says  St.  Paul, 
every  priest  is  "  ordained  that  he  may  offer  up  gifts  and 
sacrifices."  Jesus  Christ,  therefore,  cannot  be  called 
a  priest  forever,  according  to  the  order  of  Melchise- 
deck, unless  forever  he  offer  sacrifices  in  the  manner  in 
which  Melchisedeck  sacrificed.  But  Melchisedeck  of- 
fered sacrifice  in  bread  and  wine.  "  But  Melchisedeck 
the  king  of  Salem,  bringing  forth  bread  and  wine,  for 
he  was  the  priest  of  the  most  high  God,  blessed  him,"f 
etc.  Jesus  Christ  must  have  exercised  his  priesthood, 
after  the  order  of  Melchisedeck,  and  he  did  this  when 
he  instituted  the  Holy  Eucharist,  offering  the  reality  of 
what  was  only  figured  in  the  bread  and  wine  of  Mel- 
chisedeck. But  his  priesthood,  in  this  same  order,  was 
to  be  continued  forever,  and  therefore  he  must  still  of- 
fer sacrifice,  by  means  ef  his  ministers,  and  he  can  be 
said  to  do  this  no  where,  if  not  in  the  mass,  and  conse- 
quently the  mass  is  a  true  sacrifice.  In  the  Mass, 
where  bread  and  wine  are  first  brought  forth,  the  order 
of  Melchisedeck  is  shown,  but  the  priest  speaks  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  his  vicar  uses  his  very 
words  as  spoken  by  him  when  he  offered  the  Eucharist, 
and  these  divine  and  omnipotent  words  are  the  sword 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  great  high  priest  Jesus  Christ, 
and  by  the  separate  consecration  of  the  elements,  they 
present  Jesus  Christ,  as  if  slain,  on  the  altar,  and  thus 
does  he  fulfil  his  office  of  eternal  sacrificator.  Let  him, 
who  denies  this  proof,  show  how  Christ  is  forever  a 
priest  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedeck.  It  would 
be  strange  that  the  Scriptures,  and  especially  St.  Paul, 
should  speak  of  the  priesthood  of  Melchisedeck  as  ap- 
plied to  Christ,  and  yet  Christ  should  nowhere  be  found 
sacrificing  according  to  this  order,  although  his  priest- 
hood, in  this  very  order,  be  represented  as  eternal. 
Wo  have   then  in  the  prophecy  of  Malachy,  which 


*Ps.£j^:  4.     Heb.  v:  «  and  vi:  20.     fGen.  xir:   IS. 

9 


194  THE    EUCHARIST   A  .SACRIFICE. 

must  be  understood  of  the  Eucharist  as  the  Fathers 
have  maintained,  and  as  we  have  proved,  a  clear  evi- 
dence that  the  mass  is  a  true  sacrifice,  and,  from  the 
nature  of  the  priesthood  of  Jesus  Chribt,  a  further  con- 
firmation of  this  doctrine.  Besides,  the  same  is  clearly 
shown  from  the  words  of  institution,  where  Jesus  Christ 
says:  "  This  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you;" 
"  this  is  my  blood,  which  is  shed  for  you."  For  this  is 
equivalent  to  his  saying :  I  present,  I  offer  and  sacri- 
fice my  body  and  blood  for  you,  or  for  the  remission  of 
your  sins.  St.  Luke,  as  shown  in  the  Greek,  represents 
Jesus  Christ  as  saying:  "  this  is  the  chalice  in  my 
blood,  which  (chalice)  is  shed  for  you,"  and  thus  Jesus 
Christ  docs  not  simply  speak  of  his  blood  shed  for  the 
salvation  of  men,  but  of  his  blood  thus  shed  in  as  much 
as  it  is  contained  in  the  chalice,  and  as  it  is  offered  in 
the  last  supper.  The  participle  shed  agrees  in  gender 
with  the  word  chalice  or  cup,  and  not  with  the  word 
blood.  The  breaking  of  the  body  and  shedding  of  the 
blood,  as  contained  in  the  clialice,  is  equivalent  to  im- 
molation, and  the  present  tense  is  used  to  show,  that 
in  the  present  action,  Christ  offers  his  body  and  blood 
"for  them"  besides  that  he  gives  the  same  to  them  to 
be  received  in  communion.  The  Apostles  were  told  not 
merely  to  receive,  or  eat  the  body  and  drink*  the  blood, 
but  they  were  told  by  Jesus- Christ  to  "do  for  a  com- 
memoration of  him,"  what  he  had  done.  "Do  this  for 
a  commemoration  of  me."  As  if  he  said  to  them,  as 
my  priests,  do  you  offer  this  sacrifice,  as  you  have  seen 
me  offer  it,  and  having  sacrificed,  give  to  others  my  body 
and  blood  in  this  sacrament,  for  1  appoint  you  to  rep- 
resent me  in  my  priesthood,  where  the  appearances  of 
bread  and  wine,  under  which  I  place  my  body  and  blood, 
make  my  sacrifice  similar  to  that  of  Melchisedcck,  who 
was  a  figure  of  me,  as  his  sacrifice  was  also  a  figure  of 
my  sacrifice." 

Hence,  we  find  St.  Paul,  pot  only  speaking  of  "the 
communion  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and  of  "the 
participation  of  his  body,"  but  also  contrasting  this 
great  action  of  the  Christian  religion  with  the  sacrifice* 


THE    EUCHARIST   A    SACRIFICE.  195 

of  the  Jews,  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  heathens,  and 
showing  that  he  viewed  it"  as  a  real  sacrifice,  just  as 
those  also'  were  real  sacrifices  with  which  he  contrasts 
it.*  He  indeed  calls  the  altars  in  both  cases  tables, 
not  because  he  was  not  aware  that  the  pagans  had  real 
altars,  and  that  the  Christians  had  a  real  altar,  for  he 
says  elsewhere  :  "  tve  have  an  altar,  of  which  they  have 
no  power  to  eat  who  serve  the  tabernacle,"!  but  because 
he  was  speaking  to  the  people  of  their  partaking  of  the 
victiois  sacrificed,  and  he  directs  their  attention  to  this 
communion  especially,  and  even  now,  in  the  church,  the 
place  where  the  communion  is  given,  is  called  the  table. 
But  he  keeps  in  view  also,  that  the  victims  were  first 
sacrificed.  Those  of  the  pagans  were  "  sacrificed  to 
idols,"  that  of  the  Christians  "to  God." 

In  the  Acts,  chapter  xiii:  2,  this  Christian  sacrifice 
is  referred  to  thus:  "As  they  were  ministering  to  the 
Lord  and  fasting,  the  Holy  Ghost  said  to  them,"  &c, 
in  the  Greek,  the  word  for  "  ministering"  is  properly 
rendered  "sacrificing,"  and  is  the  word  by  which, 
among  the  Greeks,  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is  ex- 
pressed. 

The  ancient  liturgies,  and  the  numerous  testimonies 
of  Fathers  and  Councils,  and  the  use  in  Christian  an- 
tiquity of  the  terms  altar,  priest,  oblation,  sacrifice,  <S:c. 
furnish  further  proofs  of  this  doctrine,  that  the  Mass  is 
a  true  sacrifice.  The  agreement  with  the  Catholic 
church,  of  the  separated  Greek  church  and  of  other  de- 
nominations, such  as  the  Nestorians,  Eutychians,  Ar- 
menians, and  the  numerous  oriental  sects,  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Mass  as  a  sacrifice,  is  not  without  great 
weight,  in  proving  that  the  belief  descends  from  tho 
days  of  the  Apostles.  These  churches  must  have  re- 
cognized the  Mass  as  a  true  sacrifice  before  the  period 
of  their  separation  from  the  Catholic  church,  and  their 
esteem  for  it  proves  its  general  reception  among  Chris- 
tians in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity.  Had  it  not 
been  recognized  as  the  essential  public  act  of  religious 


•  1  Cor.  x  :   K,,  17,  &C,         f  Ileb.  xiii :   10. 


196  THE   EUCHARIST   A   SACRIFICE. 

worship,  and  as  of  divine  institution,  they  would  necessa- 
rily, in  their  separation,  have*  freed  themselves  from  it,  as 
an  innovation,  and,  had  it  been  instituted  after  the  time 
of  their  separation,  they  never  would  have  adopted  it. 


Of  the  Matter  and  Form  of  this  Sacrifice. 

Jesus  Christ,  being  really  present,  can  really  offer 
himself  in  the  Eucharist;  and  though  he  does  not  there 
really  die,  yet  as  his  death  is  represented,  and  h«  is  mys- 
tically slain,  this  mystic  death  as  truly  announces  God's 
sovereignty  as  did  his  real  death  on  the  cross.  Jesus 
Christ,  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine,  is  the 
victim  offered,  and  is  termed  the  matter  of  the  sacrifice  ;* 
the /on/*,  which  produces  and  consummates  the  sacri- 
fice is  found  in  the  words  of  consecration,  which  ren- 
der the  victim  present  on  the  altar,  and  put  him  in  the 
state  of  death,  by  the  mystic  separation  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  words  of  consecration, 
rendering  Jesus  Christ  truly,  really,  and  substantially 
present  on  the  altar,  and  containing  a  real  oblation, 
constitute  the  essence  of  the  sacrifice,  although  the 
communion,  of  the  priest  who  offers,  belongs  to  its  in- 
tegrity. The  other  actions  of  the  celebrant,  which 
precede  and  follow,  are  appointed  for  its  proper  cele- 
bration, and  to  impress  the  assistants  with  an  idea  of 
its  excellence  and^dignity. 

•  The  bread  and  wine  are  the  matttr  to  be  consecrated.-  and  yet 
are  not  the  matter  offered  in  sacrifice  or  the  victim  offered,  since 
in  this  sacrifice  there  is  a  change  or  conversion,  one  thing  ceasing 
to  b3  there  present,  and  another  being  made  present  in  its  place, 
the  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine  being  no  longer  there,  and 
the  substance  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  being  offered 
in  sacrifice  to  God,  in  some  sort,  as  took  place  in  the  sacrifice  of 
perfumes,  where  the  fragrant  gums  were  consumed  on  the  altar 
and  the  sweet  odours  which  exhaled,  were  offered  to  God.  Stt 
£xodus  xxx. 


THE   EUCHARIST   A   (SACRIFICE.  197 


Of  the  Effects,  or  the  Properties  of  the  Sacrifice  of 
the  Mass. 

As  the  mass  only  differs  in  manner  of  oblation  from 
that  of  the  cross,  and  is  the  same  sacrifice  with  it,  it 
must  have  the  same  properties.  It  is  a  holocaust  or 
sacrifice  of  praise  to  honor  God,  and  to  recognize  his 
sovereign  dominion  over  creatures.  It  is  Eucharisticy 
or  a  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  for  benefits  received.  It 
is  impetratory,  and  in  it,  Jesus  Christ,  our  mediator,  in- 
tercedes for  us,  and  continually  represents  to  his  Fa- 
ther the  death  which  he  suffered  for  his  church,  and 
therefore  it  is  the  most  efficacious  means  ofobtaining 
from  God  the  graces  we  need,  as  Avell  spiritual  as  tem- 
poral. Finally,  it  is  propitiatory,  because  it  obtains 
for  us  the  grace  of  conversion,  the  spirit  of  penance, 
and  the  remission  of  sins,  by  applying  to  us  the  price 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross.  It  docs  not  remit  sin  di- 
rectly, but  it  produces  this  effect  by  the  grace  and  gift 
of  penance,  which  we  derive  from  it.  Being  the  same 
with  that  of  the  cross,  it  is  infinite  in  value,  but  being 
intended  as  a  memorial  of  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  for  applying  his  merits,  this  application  must  be 
made  in  a  finite  manner,  and  in  proportion,  to  the  dis- 
positions of  those  for  whom  it  is  offered,  and  to  the  de- 
signs of  the  mercy  of  God  with  respect  to  men  in  gen- 
eral, and  each  person  in  particular. 

Of  the  Minister. 

The  chief  minister  of  this  sacrifice  is  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  also  the  victim.  But  he  uses  the  ministry  of 
his  priests,  who  alone  are  empowered  to  act  for  him  in 
this  great  action.  The  character  of  the  priesthood 
therefore  is  indispensably  necessary  for  the  offering  of 
the  Eueharistic  sacrifice  ;  but  any  one  having  this  cha- 
racter can  validly  offer  it,  no  matter  what  may  be  his  mor- 
al condition.  Only  a  priest  in  the  stato  of  grace,  how- 
ever, can  licitly,  and  with  propriety,  approach  the  altar 


198  THE   EUCHARIST   A   SACRIFICE. 

to  offer  this  sacrifice.  It  is  of  faith  that  private  masses,* 
in  which  only  the  priest  receives  communion,  are  law- 
ful, and  are  a  true  sacrifice,  as  stated  by  the  Council 
of  Trent.— S'ss.  XXII.  Oh.  VI. 

Of  the  Language  in  which  it  is  Offered. 

The  use  of  the  Latin  language  in  this  sacrifice,  is  at 
once  a  of  proof  the  ancient  origin  of  the  mass,  and  of  the 
universality  of  the  church.  This  language  being  fixed, 
is  conservative  of  the  integrity  of  the  liturgy;  and  as 
the  most  of  the  mass  consists  of  prayers  to  God,  and. a 
gz-eat  par^has  been,  from  the  earliest  times,  recited  in 
a  low  voice  by  the  priest,  as  directed  in  the  rubrics  or 
rules,  the  church  has  thought  it  convenient  to  preserve 
this  language,  and  to  enjoin  on  pastors,  and  those 
charged  with  care  of  souls,  to  explain  to  the  people  the 
parts  of  the  mass,  and  the  mysteries  connected  with  it. 
This  being  done,  and  the  people  having  a  translation 
of  the  ordinary  of  the  mass  in  their  prayer  books,  it  is 
found  that  no  fair  or  well  grounded  objection  can  be 
made  against  the  use  of  the  Latin  language  in.  the  pub- 
lic offices  of  the  church,  while  great  advantages  result 
from  it.  The  fact  that  the  clergy  are  necessarily  com- 
pelled to  know  the  Latin  language,  enables  the  church 
to  have  a  common  language  for  her  general  councils, 
and  the  use  of  this  language  in  her  Liturgy,  enables 
the  Catholic,  no  matter  from  what  part  of  the  world  he 
comes,  or  what  his  native  language,  to  be  equally  at 
home  in  the  temple  of  his  religion,  and  assisting  at  the 


*  Those  persons  who  have  not  given  much  attention  to  the  Doc- 
trines of  the  church,  and  taken  pains  to  inform  themselves,  imagine 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  a  mass  that  is  only  read,  and  a 
high  mass  in  which  different  portions  are  sung,  and  a  solemn  high 
mass,  in  which  different  ministers  take  part  in  the  ceremonies.  For 
such  we  state,  that  the  mass  is  entirely  the  same,  except  that  por- 
tions, such  as  the  Kyrie  Eleison,  the  Gloria,  Creed,  Sanctus,  Agnus 
Dei,  and  responses  are  sung  by  the  choir,  and  the  Collects,  Post 
Communions,  Salutations,  Epistle,  Gospel,  and  Preface  by  the  priest. 
There  are  more  ministers  and  assistants  when  k  bishop  sings 
mass. 


THE   JiUCHARI&T   A   SACRIFICE.  lO'J 

holy  sacrifice,  in  any  part  of  the  -world.  The  Catholic 
who  takes  pains  to  inform  himself,  is  soon  able  know- 
ingly to  follow  the  priest  through  all  the  parts  of  the 
service. 

To  Whom,  and  for  IV horn,  it  is  Offered. 

It  is  of  faith,  that  sacrifice  can  only  be  offered  to 
God,  and  to  Him  only  is  it  lawful  to  offer  the  Eucharis- 
tic  sacrifice.  But  the  church,  at  times,  celebrates  masses 
in  honor  and  memory  of  the  saints,  not  offering  the 
sacrifice  to  them,  "  but  giving  thanks  to  God  for  their 
victories,  and  imploring  their  patronage  that  they  may 
vouchsafe  to  intercede  for  us  in  heaven,  whose  memory 
we  celebrate  on  earth."* 

This  sacrifice  may  be  offered  for  the  living  and  the 
(load,  as  is  seen  in  all  the  ancient  liturgies,  and  as 
taught  by  the  church.  It  may  be  offered  for  all  the 
living,  whether  in  the  church  or  out  of  it,  but  the  names 
of  infidels,  of  the  excommunicated,  and  of  heretics,  are 
not  publicly  recited  in  the  prayers  of  the  church ;  and 
the  sacrifice  is  not  offered  for  them  'by  name,  though 
the  priest  and  people  may,  by  the  private  intention  of 
the  mind,  pray  for  them  while  offering  the  mass. 

As  to  the  dead,  according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  they 
are  divided  into  three  classes,  the  blessed,  those  who  aro 
in  purgatory,  and  the  damned.  It  is  not  proper  that 
the  mass  should  be  offered  for  the  saints,  and  martyrs, 
nor  can  it  be  offered  for  the  reprobated.  Only  then  for 
souls  of  deceased  persons  who  may  be  detained  in  the 
middle  state  of  purification,  or  purgatory,  is  this  sacri- 
fice offered.  As  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  says :  "  We 
pray  for  all  those  who  have  gone  out  of  this  world  in  our 
communion,  believing  that  their  souls  receive  great  re- 
lief, from  the  prayers  which  are  made  for  them,  in  this 
holy  and  dreadful  sacrifice,  which  is  on  the  altar. "f 

The  ceremonies  of  the  Mass,  the  arrangement  of  the 
parts,  tho  vestments  of  the  celebrant,  and  every  thing 

*  Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  XXII,  cli.  III.     fScrm-  CLIX. 


200  OF   PENANCE. 

pertaining  to  this  great  religious  action,  merit  examina- 
tion. Everything,  when  explained  and  rightly  under- 
stood, is  calculated  to  inspire  the  Christian  with  piety, 
reverence,  and  devotion,  and  to  enable  him,  in  the  most 
lively  manner,  to  bring  before  his  mind  the  Passion  and 
Death,  the  Resurrection  and  Ascension,  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  In  it  God  is  honored  in  a  man- 
ner equal  to  what  he  is  in  himself,  since  the  High  Priest 
and  the  victim  is  the  same  "  who  thought  it  not  robbery 
to  be  equal  with  God."*  The  church  knows  that  her  chil- 
dren can  do  no  action  so  great  and  so  acceptable  to  God, 
as  devoutly  and  worthily  to  unite  with  their  Saviour  in 
the  celebration  of  this  dread  and  holy  sacrifice,  and 
therefore  she  commands  all,  who  have  attained  the  use 
of  reason,  under  pain  of  mortal  sin,  to  sanctify  the  Sun- 
days and  Festivals  of  obligation,  by  assisting  at  Mass. 
If  through  their  own  fault,  and  when  not  prevented  by 
some  grave  and  serious  reason,  they  absent  themselves 
from  mass  on  Sundays  and  festivals  of  obligation,  they 
are  guilty  of  mortal  sin,  and  of  neglecting  to  unite  with 
the  church  in  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  by  this 
neglect  they  do  what  is  in  their  power  to  deprive  God  of 
the  glory  amid  the  nations,  which  he  derives  from  this 
"clean  oblation." 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

OF  THE  SACRAMENT  OF  PENANCE — CONTRITION — CON- 
FESSION— SATISFACTION — ABSOLUTION — THE  MINIS- 
TER. 

The  Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  XIV.,  ch.  i,  introduces 
the  exposition  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  with  respect  to 
the  sacrament  of  Penance  in  the  following  terms:  "If 
such,  in  all  the  regenerate,  were  their  gratitude  towards 

*  Philip,  ii:  6. 


' 


OF   PENANCE.  201 

God,  as  that  they  constantly  preserved  the  justice  re- 
ceived in  baptism  by  His  bounty  and  grace;  there  would 
not  have  been  need  for  another  sacrament,  besides  that 
of  baptism  itself,  to  be  instituted  for  the  remission  of 
sins.  But  because  God,  rich  in  mercy,  knows  our 
frame,  he  hath  bestowed  a  remedy  of  life,  even  on  those 
who  may,  after  baptism,  have  delivered  themselves  up 
to  the  servitude  of  sin  and  the  power  of  the  devil — the 
sacrament,  to  wit,  of  Penance,  by  which  the  benefit  of  the 
death  of  Christ  is  applied  to  those  who  have  fallen  af- 
ter baptism."  In  giving  to  man  justification  by  a  new 
birth  in  baptism,  the  Saviour  has  not  conferred  on  him 
impeccability.  He  can  lose  grace  and  holiness  by  sin, 
and  unfortunately  his  frailty  is  so  great,  and  his  ene- 
mies are  so  powerful  and  active,  in  furnishing  tempta- 
tions, that  he  easily  and  frequently  falls  into  sins  of 
different  degrees  of  guilt,  and  needs  therefore  a  remedy^ 
for  these  miseries  and  misfortunes.  As  the  aim  of  the 
Saviour  is  to  rescue  men  from  the  servitude  of  sin  and 
the  empire  of  the  devil,  in  his  mercy  he  has  provided  a 
sacrament  for  the  cleansing  of  the  soul  from  the  guilt 
of  sins  committed  after  baptism,  and  furnishing  it  anew 
with  grace  and  sanctity.  He  has  taken  as  the  basis  of 
this  sacrament,  what  during  the  whole  period  of  man's 
history,  has  been  essential  for  the  reconciliation  of  the 
sinner  to  God,  I  mean,  the  virtue  of  Penance,  or  what 
is  usually  called  repentance,  being  sorrow  of  mind  for 
sins  committed  with  a  hatred  and  detestation  of  them, 
and  not  only  a  purpose  to  sin  no  more,  but  to  endeavor 
to  satisfy  God  for  the  past  transgressions  of  his  com- 
mands. To  this  virtue,  he  has  added  a  sacred  rite,  in 
which  his  priest  or  minister,  to  the  sinner  who  comes 
with  proper  dispositions  to  confess  his  sins,  imparts,  in 
express  terms,  the  grace  of  absolution  or  forgiveness. 
He  has  thus  pledged  himself,  by  means  of  this  sacred 
sign,  from  the  very  work  done,  ex  opere  operato,  to  par- 
don the  sinner  the  guilt  of  his  sins  and  eternal  punish- 
ment due  to  them,  and  to  reconcile  himself  to  him. 
That  which  before  was  not  a  sacrament,  is  by  him  made 
a  sacrament,  in  behalf   of  all  baptized  persons  who 


202  OF   PENANCE. 

have  incurred  the  guilt  of  sin.  And  "  the  Lord  then 
principally  instituted  the  sacrament  of  Penance,  when 
being  raised  from  the  dead,  He  breathed  upon  His  dis- 
ciples saying:  Receive  ye  the  Holy  G-host,  whose  sins 
you  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  them,  and  whose 
sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  retained.*  By  which 
action  so  signal,  and  words  so  clear,  the  consent  of  all 
the  Fathers  has  ever  understood  that  the  power  of  for- 
giving and  retaining  sins  was  communicated  to  the 
Apostles  and  their  lawful  successors,  for  the  reconciling 
of  the  faithful  who  have  fallen  after  baptism. "f 

It  is  of  faith,  that  Penance  is  a  sacrament  of  the  * 
New  Law,  different  from  that  of  Baptism,  and  appoint- 
ed by  Jesus  Christ  for  the  forgiveness  dt  sins  committed 
after  baptism.  Besides  the  exercise  offehe  power  given 
by  Jesus  Christ  to  his  ministers,  there  are,  necessarily, 
^required  certain  acts  on  the  part  of  the  sinner,  who 
seeks  from  God  the  pardon  of  his  sins. 

In  this  sacrament,  as  in  the  others,  are  found  the 
matter  and  the  form.  Theologians  make  a  distinction 
as  regards  the  matter,  into  remote  and  proximate.  They 
consider  the  sins  as  the  remote  matter,  and  the  acts  of 
the  repentant  sinner,  in  seeking  forgiveness,  as  the 
proximate  matter.  The  church  has  declared  that  from 
the  penitent  sinner,  in  order  to  obtain  entire  and  per- 
fect remission  of  his  sins,  there  are  required  three  acts, 
as  the  quasi  matter  of  the  sacrament  of  penance,  viz  : 
contrition,  confession,  and  satisfaction,  which  are  called 
the  three  parts  of  penance.  By  the  use  of  the  word 
quasi  matter,  as  explained  by  the  Catechism  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  it  is  not  meant  that  these  three  acts 
are  not  the  real  matter,  but  that  they  are  not  an  exter- 
nal matter,  like  the  water  in  baptism,  or  the  chrism,  in 
confirmation.  These  three  acts  are  the  necessary  mat- 
ter of  the  sacrament. 

The  form  consists  of  the  words  of  absolution  used 
by  the  priest,  of  which  the  essence  is:  "  I  absolve  thee 
from  thy  sins,"  or  "  I  absolve  thee."     These  words  are 

*  John  xx  :  23.         f  Counc.  Trent,  Ses?.  XIV,  c.  1. 


OF    PENANCE.  203 

pronounced  by  the  priest  as  holding  the  place  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  the  organ  of  his  power.  ."As  the  Father 
hath  sent  me,  I  also  send  you."  *  There  are  then  four 
things  required  for  this  sacrament. 

1st.  That  whoever  has  sinned  after  baptism,  should 
be  truly  sorry  and  contrite  for  all  his  sins. 

2dly.  That  he  should  confess  them  to  an  approved 
priest. 

3dly.  That  he  should  be  willing  to  make  satisfaction 
for  the  expiation  of  them. 

4thly.  That  he  should  receive  forgiveness  or  absolu- 
tion from  the  priest,  to  whom  he  has  confessed  them. 

Of  Contrition. 

Contrition  is  an  interior  sorrow  for  our  sins  and  de- 
testation of  them,  with  the  firm  purpose  to  sin  no  more 
in  the  future.  The  Council  of  Trent  thus  speaks  of 
it :  "  Contrition,  which  holds  the  first  place  amongst  the 
aforesaid  acts  of  the  penitent,  is  a  sorrow  of  mind,  and 
a  detestation  for  sin  committed,  with  the  purpose  of 
not  sinning  for  the  future.  This  movement  of  contri- 
tion was  at  all  times  necessary  for  obtaining  the  pardon 
of  sins ;  and  in  one  who  has  fallen  after  baptism,  it 
then  at  length  prepares  for  the  remission  of  sins,  when 
it  is  united  with  confidence  in  the  divine  mercy,  and 
with  the  desire  of  performing  the  other  things  which 
are  required  for  rightly  receiving  this  sacrament. 
Wherefore,  the  Holy  Synod  declares,  that  this  contri- 
tion contains  not  only  a  cessation  from  sin,  and  the  pur- 
pose and  the  beginning  of  a  new  life,  but  also  a  hatred 
of  the  old,  agreeably  to  that  saying :  Cast  aivay  from 
you  all  your  iniquities,  wherein  you  have  transgressed, 
and  make  to  yourselves  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit."  f 

There  are  two  kinds  of  contrition,  viz  :  perfect  con- 
trition and  imperfect  contrition,  or  attrition.  Perfect 
contrition  is  that  which  arises  from  perfect  charity,  or 
a  charity  which  induces  the  love  of  God  above  all  things 

•John  xx  :  21.     ^Council  Trent,  Sess.  xiv:  c.  iv. 


204  OF   PENANCE. 

for  himself,  and  because  he  is  infinitely  perfect.  Imper- 
fect contrition  springs  from  a  motive  inferior  to  that  of 
perfect  charity,  such  as  from  the  difformity  and  turpi- 
tude of  sin  as  shown  by  faith,  or  from  the  fear  of  hell 
and  dread  of  God's  chastisements.  Perfect  contrition 
justifies  a  man  of  itself,  and  before  the  reception  of  the 
sacrament  of  penance,  but  not  without  regard  to  its  vir- 
tue, since  the  will  or  desire  to.  receive  this  sacrament 
must  be  included  in  it. 

Imperfect  contrition,  called  attrition,  including 
the  commencement  of  some  love  of  God,  the  hope  of 
pardon,  and  also  the  intention  and  will  to  sin  no  more, 
is  "  a  gift  of  God  and  an  impulsion  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  disposes  the  sinner  to  obtain  the  grace  of  God  in 
the  sacrament  of  penance."  It  therefore  is  sufficient 
for  obtaining  forgiveness  when  found  joined  to  the  sac- 
rament. Perfect  contrition  is  a  far  greater  gift  of 
God. 

Contrition,  whether  perfect  or  imperfect,  must  have 
the  following  qualities.  It  must  be  interior,  superna- 
tural, universal,  and  sovereign. 

It  must  be  interior.  It  must  be  a  sorrow  of  the  soul ; 
and  as  sin  comes  from  the  heart,  detestation  of  it  and 
regret  for  having  committed  it  must  also  spring  from 
the  heart.  "  Now,  therefore,  saith  the  Lord  :  "  lie  con- 
verted to  me  with  all  your  heart,  in  fasting,  and  in  weep- 
ing, and  in  mourning ;  and  rend  your  hearts  and  not 
your  garments,  and  turn  to  the  Lord  your  God."  *  Yet 
as  a  part  of  penance,  though  interior^  it  must  in  some 
manner  be  made  sensible,  or  perceptible,  by  some  ex- 
terior signs,  that  the  minister  of  God  may  be  able  to 
judge  that  it  exists. 

It  must  be  supernatural  in  its  principle  and  motives. 
It  is  a  gift  of  God.  In  the  order  of  salvation,  we  can 
do  nothing  without  God's  grace,  and,  therefore,  we  can- 
not repent  for  our  sins,  as  we  must  to  be  forgiven,  with- 
out the  inspiration  and  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Our  sorrow  also  must  spring  from  the  motives  which 

*Joel,ch.  ii:  12,  13. 


OF    PENANCE.  205 

faith  presents  to  us.  We  must  detest  our  sins,  because 
they  are  offences  against  God,  and  displease  him.  A 
sorrow,  springing  from  human  and  temporal  motives, 
such  as  the  temporal  evils  brought  on  us  by  our  disor- 
ders, or  our  disgrace  before  man,  would  be  a  mere  nat- 
ural sorrow,  and  of  no  avail  to  obtain  forgiveness. 

It  must  be  universal;  that  is,  it  must  extend  to  all 
the  mortal  sins  we  have  committed,  without  a  single  ex- 
ception. He  who  cherishes  a  single  mortal  sin,  or 
criminal  passion,  is  not  repentant.  And  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  hate  some  sins,  because  they  are  offences  against 
God  and  displease  him,  while  we  love  another  sin  that 
equally  offends  and  displeases  him ;  for  if  this  motive 
influences  us  really,  it  will  make  us  hate  all  our  offences, 
without  exception.  Although  it  is  better  that  the  sin- 
ner should  regret  and  detest  his  sins  in  detail,  and  ex- 
cite himself  to  sorrow  from  motives  peculiar  to  each 
special  sin,  except  they  be  of  a  nature  wherein  even 
self  examination  is  a  danger,  yet  he  may  have  a  sorrow 
that  is  universal,  in  detesting  all  his  si?is  by  a  single 
act,  and  from  a  single  motive,  wbich  suits  all  mortal 
sins. 

Lastly,  it  must  be  sovereign  ;  which  signifies  that  wc 
must  regard  sin  as  the  greatest  of  all  evils,  and  be  more 
afflicted  and  sorry  for  it  than  for  any  other  evil  or  mis- 
fortune. We  must  be  disposed  to  suffer  every  thing, 
and  make  a  sacrifice  of  every  thing,  rather  than  offend 
God  by  mortal  sin*.  But  in  sorrow  there  arc  degrees, 
and  sorrow  may  be  sovereign  without  being  as  intense 
in  one  penitent  as  it  is  in  another.  Hence,  it  is  not 
required  to  be  intensely  sovereign,  or  to  exist  in  the 
highest  possible  degree.  So  also  it  may  be  sovereign 
without  being  as  lively,  and  as  affecting  to  sensitiveness, 
as  sorrow  which  springs  from  certain  temporal  evils. 
Thus,  a  person  might  be  affected  in  a  more  lively  and 
sensible  manner  by  seeing  a  dear  parent  die,  than  in 
considering  that  he  has  offended  God  by  sin,  and  yet 
would  far  prefer  to  see  that  parent  die,  than  to  commit 
a  mortal  sin  again.  A  person  might  be  much  more 
moved  and  Btirred  at  the  prospect  of  losing  the  life  of 


206  OF   PENANCE. 

the  body,  than  at  the  danger  of  losing  by  a  mortal  sin 
the  life  of  the  soul,  and  yet  far  prefer  to  die  rather 
than  to  commit  a  mortal  sin. 

True  sorrow  for  sins  committed  necessarily  includes 
a  purpose  or  resolution  not  to  sin  in  future,  and  this 
resolution,  like  the  sorrow,  ought  to  be  sincere,  firm, 
universal  and  efficacious.  The  marks  of  such  a  resolu- 
tion are  its  effects,  such  as,  1st.  The  beginning  of  a  new 
life.  2d.  The  correction  of  evil  habits.  3d.  The 
avoiding  of  the  occasions  of  sin. 

As  contrition  is  a  gift  of  God  we  must  solicit  it  from 
him  by  frequent  and  fervent  prayer. 

Of  Confession. 

Confession,  as  a  part  of  the  sacrament  of  Penance, 
is  an  accusation  and  declaration  of  sins,  made  by  a 
penitent  to  a  priest,  who  has  jurisdiction,  or  is  approv- 
ed for  hearing  confessions,  in  order  that  the  priest  may 
indicate  the  mode  of  satisfaction  and  the  remedies  for 
sin,  and  may  grant  absolution  for  them. 

It  is  of  faith,  that  sacramental  confession  of  sins  is 
necessary  by  the  Law  of  God.* 

This  necessity  is  indicated  by  the  words  of  Christ : 
"  Peace  be  to  you.  As  the  Father  hath  sent  me  I  also 
send  you.  When  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them ; 
and  he  said  to  them :  Receive  ye  the#Holy  Ghost,  whose 
sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  them;  and 
whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  retained.""]  lie 
had  before  promised  this  power  in  general  terms,  first 
to  St.  Peter :  "And  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind 
upon  earth  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven,  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  loose  on  earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also 
in  heaven."|  Secondly,  to  all  the  Apostles:  "Amen 
I  say  to  you,  whatsoever  you  shall  bind  upon  earth,  shall 
be  bound  also  in  heaven ;  and  whatsoever  you  shall 


*  Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  XIV,  Can.  VI.     f  John  xx :  2  ]  -  22>  23- 
+  Math,  xvi:  10. 


OP   PENANCE.  207 

loose  upon  earth,  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven."* 
These  words  confer  a  general  power  regarding  the  affairs 
of  salvation,  and  a  special  power  to  forgive  and  retain 
sins.  By  giving  this  power  to  those  whom  he  sent  as 
his  representatives,  the  Saviour  constituted,them  judges, 
who  were  to  keep  in  view  what  was  due  to  the  majesty 
and  honor  of  God,  and  the  interests  of  men,  and  who 
therefore  must  decide,  only  after  full  knowledge  of  the 
case  and  of  the  dispositions  of  those  who  wished  for- 
giveness. They  could  only  have  this  knowledge  from 
the  self-accusation,  or  confession  of  the  penitent  sin- 
ners, who  would  resort  to  this  tribunal.  Therefore, 
the  duty  of  confession  is  implied  in  the  concession 
of  the  power  to  judge  and  to  pass  sentence.  But  in 
conferring  this  power. upon  the  Apostles  and  their  suc- 
cessors, to  be  exercised  in  his  church  or  society,  Jesus 
Christ  gave  men  to'undersfand  that,  to  be  forgiven  for 
their  sins,  they  are  under  an  obligation  to  have  recourse 
to  this  tribunal,  and  with  proper  dispositions  to  confess 
their  sins  as  exactly  as  possible,  and  thus  he  has  him- 
self rendered  confession  necessary  for  all  baptized  per- 
sons who  have  sinned,  since  he  desires  all  to  be  mem- 
bers of  his  church,  and,  in  his  church,  to  use  the  sacra- 
ments which  he  instituted  for  their  benefit.  He  has 
not  indicated  any  other  means,  as  sacred  institutions, 
for  the  direct  remission  of  sins,  but  baptism  for  the  un- 
baptized,  and  Penance  for  the  baptized. f  .  And  it 
would  have  been  useless  to  institute  a  sacrament  like 
Penance,  whose  value  and  iufluence  is  the  power  to  for- 
give and  retain  sins,  if  it  were  not  obligatory  on  his 
followers  to  use  it,  in  the  only  reasonable  manner  that 
they  can  possibly  do  so,  which  is,  by  a  self-accusation 
and  confession  of  their  sins  to  his  minister,  to  whom  he 
has  granted  the  power  to  forgive  or  refuse  forgiveness, 
not  arbitrarily,  but  according  to. what  is  due,  at  the 
same  time,  to  God's  majesty  and  to  man's  utility. 

*  Math,  xviii:   18. 

t  Though  the  sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction  remits  sins,  it  was 
not  primarily  and  direcily  instituted  for  tins  end  like  Baptism  and 
Penance. 


208  OF   PENANCE. 

Since  the  power  could  not  be  exercised  without  con- 
fession, it  can  be  no  good  objection  to  the  doctrine,  that 
confession  is  necessary,  to  say  that  there  is  no  express 
mention  in  the  Scriptures  of  sacramental  confession.  The 
Lord's  Suppar  is  held  to  be  a  sacrament,  although  not 
called  so  expressly  in  the  Scriptures.  The  practice  and 
obligation  of  Confession  are  clearly  seen  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  in  certain  passages  confession  is  mentioned, 
where  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  the  persons  mado 
it  sacramentally,  and  with  a  view  to  obtain  the  benefit 
of  the  power  given  by  Jesus  Christ  to  his  ministers, 
who  expressly  designate  themselves  us  "ministers  of  re- 
conciliation." To  St.  Paul,  at  Ephesns,  "Many  of 
them  th.it  believed  e;nne  confessing  and  declaring  their 
And  it  is  said  by  St.  James  the  Apostle,  in 
his  epistle,  u<wnftH  your  sins  one  to  another,"!  in  a 
connection  which  justifies  the  opinion  that  he  refers  to 
a  *<i<  rami  ntnl  confession  before  receiving  Extreme 
Unction,  for  he  says  these  words,  "Confess  your  sins 
one  to  another,"  after  indicating  that,  for  the  sick,. Me 

f  the  church  thovld  lr  called  "  to  pray  over  the 
sick  and  anoint  him  with  oil."  Thus  having  in  view 
the  ministry  of  the  priests,  and  knowing  that  our  Sa- 
viour had  given  them  the  power tp  forgive  sins,  he  must 

ily  refer  to  them  when  he  says,  "confess  your 
m  to  another,"  that  is  to  some  one  among  you, 
from  whom  you  can  receive  forgiveness,  because  he  has 
from  God  the  power  to  forgive.  Otherwise,  he  would 
be  enjoining  what  might  be  the  occasion  of  evils,  and 
could  not  be  of  importance,  as  such  other,  if  not  a  priest, 
could  not   impart  forg  .  since   he   had   not    been 

sent  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  "minister  of  reconciliation." 
'ohn  also  states  that,  "if  we  confess  our  sins,  God 
is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  iniquity."  T  "Why  are  God's  fideli- 
ty and  justice  here  brought  under  view  as  requiring 
him  to  forgive  because  of  confession,  if  he  has  not 
himself  instituted  in  his  church  a  sacrament,  where,  by 

•  Acts  xix:  18.         f  St.  James  v:   16.  %  John  i  :  9. 


OF   PENANCE.  200 

the  very  force  of  what  is  done,  he  has  bound  himself  to 
grant  sanctifying  grace  and  the  pardon  of  sins  ?  To 
say  he  is  "faithful  and  just"  implies  an  obligation, 
and  therefore  something  else  besides  the  pardon  of  mer- 
cy. And  to  place  God  under  the  requirements  of  his 
faithfulness  and  justice  in  this  regard,  the  Apostle  in- 
dicates confession  with  its  necessary  qualities  as  the 
means.  This  Apostle  knew  that  Jesus  Christ  had  given 
to  him,  with  his  fellow  Apostles,  the  power  "to  forgive 
and  retain  sins,"  and  that  their  sentence  would  be  rat- 
ified by  God ;  and  as  the  power  to  forgive  could  not  be 
exercised  except  after  confession,  he  urges  upon  those 
for  whom  he  writes  to  confess  their  sins,  not  doubting 
the  justice  and  fidelity  of  God  to  grant  them  the  par- 
don which  he  has  pledged  himself  to  accord. 

Moreover,  we  must  keep  in  mind  that  the  Christian 
religion  was  first  established  among  the  Jews,  who  al- 
ready were  aware  that,  from  time  immemorial,  God  had 
enjoined  confession  by  a  legal  precept,  and  that  the 
Scriptures,  read  to  them  so  frequently,  set  forth  tho 
value  and  advantages  of  confession,  not  only  to  God, 

I  but  confession  to  those  whom  God  appointed  as  his  rep- 
resentatives and  priests.  He  caused  Adam  and  Eve  to 
confess  their  sin  to  Himself,  which  he  knew  already 
better  than  they  did.  He  reproved  Cain  for  refusing 
to  confess  his  heinous  sin,  and  put  his  curse  upon  him. 
He  enacted  the  following  express  law,  as  we  read  in 
tho  book  of  Numbers:  "And the  Lord  spoke  to  Moses, 
saying :  say  to  the  children  of  Israel :  when  a  man  or 
woman  shall  have  committed  any  of  all  the  sins  that 
men  are  wont  to  commit,  and  by  negligence  shall  have 
transgressed  the  commandments   of  the  Lord,  and  of- 

i  fended.  '  They  shall  confess  their  sin,  and  restore  the 
principal  itself,  and  the  fifth  part  over   and  above,  to 

\liim  against  whom  they  have  sinned.     But  if  there  be 
no  one  to  receive  it,  they  shall  give  it  to  the  Lord,  and 
it  shall  be  the  priest's,  besides  the  ram   that  is  offered 
'for  expiation,  to  be   an  atoning   sacrifice."*     "They 

*  Numbers  v :  6,  7,  S. 


210  OF   PENANCE. 

shall  confess  their  sin,  being  any  of  all  the  sins  that 
men  are  wont  to  commit,"  therefore  they  shall  make  a 
particular  confession,  and  not  a  mere  vague  or  general 
one  of  being  a  sinner.  In  Leviticus,  we  find  an  order 
from  God  that  the  sinner  shall  "do  penance  for  his 
sin,"  and  bring  victims  to  the  priest,  and  "  the  priest 
shall  pray  for  him  and  for  his  sin."*  The  confession 
was  t<>  lc  made  t<>  the  priest,  as  appears  from  the  text, 
and  is  shown  by  the  testimony  of  Jewish  tradition,  and 
tlir  practice  of  the  people.  Hence  we  see  in  the  gos- 
pel of  St.  Mathcw.  that  when  John  the  Baptist  amis 
preaching  in  the  desert  of  .Judca.  the  people  flocked  to 
him,  "from  Jerusalem  ami  all  Judea  and  all  the  coun- 
try about  Jordan;  and  were  baptised  by  him  in  the 
Jordan  oonfemmg  their  #in*."j  They  did  nol  merely 
e;ill  themselves  sinners,  but  confessed  their  sins  in  par- 
ticular. It  w:t>  no  doubt  to  the  legal  command  to  con- 
fess, thai  the  writer  of  Ecclcsiastinis  referred  when  ho 
gave  this  injunction  :  "Be  not  ashamed  to  confess  thy 
sin.*."  |  A  mere  confession  of  .sin  to  God  cannot  be 
meant,  for  besides  that  men  are  not  atkamedto  confess 
to  God,  beadus:  "  but  submit  m»t  thyself  to  every  man 
for  Bin."  He  had  then  in  view  confession  to  man,  and 
feared  that  shame  wonld  prevent  what  the  law  com- 
manded, viz:  confession  to  the  j»i ; 

When  converted  to  Christianity,  we  find  them  "con- 
fessing  and  declaring  their  d<  ->   narrated  in  the 

nineteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  and  therefore  it  was 
not  necessary  for  the  Saviour  to  instruct  them  particu- 
larly about  the  obligation  of  confession  when  instituting 
rament,  in  which  his  power  to  forgive  is  .delegated 
to  his  minister,  and,  for  its  proper  exercise,  confession 
is  indispensably  necessary,  and  which,  from  being  for- 
merly enjoined  by  a  legal  precept,  now  by  him  is  made 
an  essential  part  of  a  sacrament. 

The  objection  which  men  are  disposed  to  raise  as  to 
the  |  .  and  exercise  of  such  a  power  by  men,  say- 

•  Levit.  v:  5,  *.  f  Math.  Hi:  «, S.  "  J  Eccl.  ir:  31.  §  AcU 
XU:    18, 


. 


OF   PENANOB.  211 

ing:  "Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God?"  has  been  fore- 
seen and  refuted  by  Jesus  Christ  himself.  We  see  this 
refutation  in  the  first  verses  of  the  ninth  chapter  of  St. 
MatheVs  Gospel,  where  our  Saviour  works  the  miracle 
of  the  cure  of  the  palsied  man,  in  order  to  prove  that 
"  the  Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins," 
and  where  the  Evangelist  declares,  that  the  conviction 
that  God  really  "gave  such  power  to  men"  was  pro- 
duced on  the  minds  of  those  present.  The  Saviour 
calls  himself  "the  Son  of  Man"  here,  and  the  peoplo 
glorify  God  who  "gave  such  power  to  men,"  to  instruct 
us,  that  even  mere  men,  when  sent  by  God  and  autho- 
rized to  act  for  him,  can  forgiv;d  sins.  For  God  is  free* 
to  exercise  his  p«wer  by  his  chosen  and  appointed  agent, 
as  well  as  by  himself.  He  can  appoint  men  to  bo 
"ministers  of  reconciliation."* 

The  testimonies  of  the  fathers  of  every  age,  and  the 
constant  belief  and  practice  of  the  church,  and  even  of 
the  Greeks  and  oriental  sects,  prove  that  confession  of 
sins  is  of  divine  appointment  and  of  Apostolic  tradition. 
Had  it  not  been  from  the  beginning  an  obligation,  the 
humiliation  attending  it,  and  the  repugnance  which  men 
have  to  submit  to  it,  would  absolutely  have  prevented 
its  after  introduction  among  Christians.  And  had  it 
been  attempted  to  introduce  it,  at  any  period  in  the 
history  of  Christianity,  the  place  of  its  invention,  its 
inventors,  and  the  account  of  its  reception  and  progress, 
would  have  found  their  place  is  history.  But  we  find 
in  every  age  proofs  of  its  being  practiced,  and  always 
held  to  be  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  the  power,  "to 
forgive  and  retain  sins,"  which  Christ  himself  bestowed 
upon  his  Apostles,  not  to  honor  them,  but  for  the  bene- 
fit of  his  followers,  and,  therefore,  which  he  bestowed 
also  on  their  successors  in  the  same  ministry.  It  is  of 
faith,  that  "  all  mortal  sins,  of  which  sinners  are  con- 
scious after  a  diligent  examination  of  their  conscience, 
must  be  enumerated  in  confession,  also  those  most  hid- 
den and  secret."     It  is  also  of  faith,  that  the  circum- 

•3  Cor.  v.  18. 


212  OF   PENANCE. 

stances,  which  change  the  species  of  the  sins,  must  be 
manifested.  By  circumstances  which  change  the  species, 
is  meant  those  things  which  cause  the  sin  to  be  of  a 
different  nature.  The  reason  given  by  the  Council  of 
Trent  is,  that  otherwise,  "the  sins  themselves  are 
neither  entirely  set  forth  by  the  penitents,  nor  are  they 
known  clearly  to  the  judges  :  and  it  cannot  be  that 
they  can  estimate  rightly  the  grievousnessof  the  orii 
and  impose  on  the  penitents  the  punishment  which  ought 
to  be  inflicted,  on  account  of  them."  Theologians, 
from  these  reasons,  infer  also  the  obligation  to  manifest 
the  circumstances,  which,  though  not  changing  the  na- 
ture, notably  increase  the  grievovsness  of  the  sins.  It 
is  of  faith,  that  while  persons  are  not  bound  to  confess 
venial  sins,  which  do  not  deprive  Christians  of  the  graos 
of  (.rod,  and  they  can  otherwise  obtain  forgiveness  for 
them,  yet  it  is  useful,  and  lawful  to  confess  them,  as  is 
the  custom  of  pious  persons. 

Without  this  integrity  as  to  the  number,  nature,  and 
aggravating  eiroutikStanoes,  ,,r  from  the  wilful  concealment 
but  of  a  single  mortal  sin.  the  confession  would  be  null 
and  sacrilegious.  But  besides  integrity,  the  confession 
should  have  other  qualities,  viz  :  It  should  be  humble, 
simple,  prudent,  and  secret. 

It  should  be  Ituinhlr.-woi  made  as  a  mere  narration, 
but  with  a  sense  of  humiliation,  with  a  tone  and  de- 
portment appropriate  to  a  self  accusing  criminal,  who 
feels  ashamed  of  his  misdeeds,  and  is  sorry  for  them, 
and  prepared  to  make  adequate  satisfaction.  It  ought 
to  be  simple,  declaring  the  sins  as  known  to  the  peni- 
tent, without  diminution  or  aggravation,  without  excu- 
sing them,  or  involving  them  in  ambiguities  and  narra- 
tions, that  add  nothing  to  the  manifestation  of  con- 
science. 

It  ought  to  be  prudent,  being  made  according  to 
charity  and  propriety ;  as  St.  l'aul  tells  Christians  : 
"  Le t  all  thii  |  according  to  or- 

der." *     It  should  not  be  made  in  gross  language,  or  so 

*  1  Cor.,  xiv  :  40. 


\ 


OF   PENANCE.  213 

ns  to  manifest,  without  neceMtty,  tlio  sins  and  guilt  of 
others.  Only  when  the  nature  and  gravity  of  our  own 
sins  cannot  otherwise  be  confessed,  are  wc  at  liberty  to 
manifest  the  sins  of  others. 

Finally,  it  should  be  secret.  This  can  he  understood 
from  the  words  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  declaring,  that 
though  Christ  has  not  forbidden  that  a  person  may,  un- 
der certain  circumstances,  confess  his  sins  publicly,  yet 
this  is  not  a  divine  precept,  neither  would  it  be  very 
prudent  to  enjoin  it  by  way  of  human  law,  "  whereas 
the  secret  sacramental  confession,  which  was  in  use 
from  the  beginning  in  holy  church,  and  is  still  also  in 
use,  has  always  been  commended  by  the  most  holy  and 
most  ancient  fathers  with  a  great  and  unanimous  con- 
sent." 

This  manner  of  confessing  secretly  to  a  priest  alone, 
is  of  divine  right,  and  to  be  observed.  It  is  very  clear, 
that  such  confession  as  wc  have  indicated  can  only  be 
properly  made  when  the  sinner  has  taken  due  time  to 
examine  his  past  conduct,  and  prayed  to  God  for  light 
and  grace.  A  strict  examination  of  conscience  with 
p  aver  for  assistance  from  God,  and  an  endeavour  to 
excite  oneself  to  contrition,  should  always  precede  the 
confession  of  our  sins. 

In  order  that  penitents  may  resort  to  confession  with 
entire  confidence,  to  seek  the  cure  of  their  spiritual  mala- 
dies, advice  in  their  doubts  and  difficulties,  and  to  be 
raised  to  newness  of  life  from  the  death  of  sin,  the  priest 
who  receives  sacramental  confession  is,  under  the  strictest 
penalties,  bound  to  an  absolute  secresy.  He  is  not  per- 
mitted, in  any  case,  or  for  any  reasons  however  imper- 
ative, to  reveal  any  sin,xeven  the  slightest,  which  ma" 
be  known  to  him  only  by  the  way  of  confession.  This 
secresy  has  been  always  strictly  enjoined  by  the  church, 
and  respected  even  by  temporal  governments.  Coun- 
cils threaten  the  most  grave  penalties  against  any  priest, 
who,  "by  word,  sign,  or  in  any  other  manner,"  should 
manifest  the  sin  of  a  penitent,  who  had  sought  the  ben- 
efit of  his  ministry.  Confession  is  sacred  and  safe,  un- 
der the  inviolable  seal  of  perpetual  silence. 


214  OP   PENANCE. 


Of  Satisfaction. 


The  third  part  of  the  sacrament  of  Penance  is  satis- 
faction. As  a  part  of  the  sacrament,  satisfaction  is 
the  penance  imposed  upon  the  penitent  sinner  by  the 
priest  to  whom  he  has  made  confession.  ,  To  satisfy  the 
divine  justice,  for  the  injury  done  to  God  by  sin  is  in- 
dispensably necessary.  The  duty  of  satisfying  rests 
even  on  those  who  have  obtained  pardon  of  their  sins 
in  the  sacrament  of  penance,  for  though  the  guilt  and 

(  t'-nial  punisliuiriit  be  remitted  by  this  sacrament,  there 

remains  nearly  always  a  temporal  punishment  to  be  on* 
dergoae  either  by  expiatory  works  in  this  life,  or,  in 
the  next  world,  by  the  Bufferings  of  purgatory.  The 
penances  which  the  priest  imposes  ha  'amenta! 

value,  and  arc  a  means  of  making  satisfaction  to  the 
divine  justice.     The  power,  conferred  by.'  rist, 

is  both  to   lot>M  and  to  bind,  and  therefore  with 

his  ministers  the  right  to  impose  salutary  satisfaction 
and  remedial   penaie-   -, 

The  church  has  decided,  1st,  That  God  does  not  si* 

ways  remit  all  the  punishment  together  with  the  guilt 
of  sin  :  and  that,  even  after  the  guilt  and  eternal  pun- 
ishment have  been  pardoned,  S  temporal  punishment,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  most  frequently  remains  to  be  under- 
gone, and  that,  by  divine  law,  satisfaction  is  n< 
2dly.  That,  in  virtue  of  the  merit.-  of  J<  90S  Christ,  we 
.can,  as  to  the  temporal  punishment,  satisfy  the  divine 
justice  for  our  sins,  by  the  works  prescribed  by  the  i 

-  >r,  by  those  which  we  impose  upon  ourselves,  and 
%ven  by  the  afflictions  which  God  may  send  us,  if  wo 
receive  these  in  the  spirit  of  pen:: 

odly.  That  the  satisfaction  necessary  for  penit' 
something  else  than  the    faith  whereby  they  apprel 
thai  -lied   for  them,  and  that  p< 

something  more  than  a  mere  change  of  life. 

4thly.  That  the  power  of  "  the  keys,"  deposited  with 
the  priests  of  the  ehurcb,  is  not  only  a  power  to  loose  but 
also  to  bind,  regard  being  had  to  the  quality  of  tin-,  and 


OF    PENANCE.  215 

the  state  of  penitents,  and  that  confessors  tict  accord- 
ing to  Christ's  institution,  when  they  impose  punish- 
ments on  those  who  confess. 

The  church  teaches,  that  we  do  not  satisfy  by  our- 
selves and  of  our  own  merits,  but  "while  we  thus,  by 
making  satisfaction,  puffer  for  our  sins,  we  are  made 
conformable  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  satisfied  for  our  sins, 
from  whom  all  our  sufficiency  is,  having  also  thereby  a 
most  sure  pledge,  that  if  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall 
also  be  glorified  with  him.  But  neither  is  this  satisfac- 
tion, so  our  own,  as  not  to  be  through  Jesus  Christ.  For 
we  who  can  do  nothing  of  ourselves,  as  of  ourselves,  can 
do  all  thing*,  He  co-operating,  who  strengthens  us. 
Thus,  man  has  not  wherein  to  glory,  but  all  our  glory- 
ing is  in  Christ :  in  whom  we  live  ;  in  whom  we  merit; 
in  whom  we  satisfy;  bringing  forth  fruits  worthy  of 
penance,  which  from  him  have  their  efficacy  ;  by  him, 
are  offered  to  the  father;  and  through  him,  are  accept- 
ed by  the  Father."* 

The  church  maintains,  that,  however  fully  Christ  has 
satisfied  for  us,  his  merits  and  satisfaction  must  be  ap- 
plied to  us,  and  among  the  ways  for  this  application 
appointed  by  Christ  is  the  sacrament  of  Penance,  one 
of  the  conditions  of  which  is,  that  we  should  suffer  with 
Christ  and  make  satisfaction  together  with  him,  as  far 
as  lies  in  us,  for  our  own  sins.  And  though  it  would  be 
easier  for  the  sinner,  if  Jesus  Christ  would  leave  him 
no  satisfaction  to  make  in  seeking  forgiveness  in  this 
sacrament,  but  make  all  for  him  as  he  did  in  baptism, 
yet  he  has  not  chosen  to  do  so.  He  mercifully  regene- 
rated him  in  baptism,  made  him  a  new  creature,  forgave 
him  all  the  debt  and  the  punishment,  both  eternal  and 
temporal,  but  the  sinner  having  been  ungrateful,  and 
having  fallen  into  sin  in  spite  of  the  mercy  and  grace 
he  received  in  baptism,  Jesus  Christ  makes  it  a  more 
painful  and  laborious  thing  for  him  to  recover  grace 
and  reconciliation.  He  sinned  through  ignorance,  be- 
fore baptism  ;  after  baptism,  he  knowingly  violated  the 

*  Council  Trent,  Sesa.  xir  :  ch.  viii. 


216  OF    PENANCE. 

temple  of  *God,  after  having  received  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  No  one  can  deny  that  this  greater  seve- 
rity towards  the  ungrateful  and  rebellious  is  perfectly 
just.  And,  that  God  docs  exact  this  satisfaction,  is 
proved  by  examples  from  the  Scriptures.  Our  first  pa- 
rents obtained  pardon  for  their  sin,  but  both  they  and 
their  posterity  had  to  expiate  it  by  penances.  The  Is- 
raelites, after  going  forth  from  Egypt,  often  sinned, 
and  often  obtained  pardon  from  the  Lord,  and  yet  in 
expiation  of  their  sins,  they  had  to  pass  forty  years 
in  the  desert,  and  were  never  introduced  into  the  land 
promised  to  their  fathers.  Mary,  sister  of  Moses,  sin- 
ned by  murmuring  against  Moses.  She  obtained  par- 
don, but  still  it  was  with  the  penalty  of  leprosy,  and  of 
seven  days  separation  from  the  people.  Moses  himself 
sinned  at  the  rock  and  the  waters  of  contradiction  ;  he 
obtained  pardon,  and  yet  in  punishment  of  his  sin,  he 
was  not  allowed  the  honor  of  introducing  the  people 
into  the  land  of  promise.  David  was  guilty  of  griev- 
ous sins,  and  yet,  when  admonished  by  the  prophet  of 
God,  he  sued  for  pardon,  and  was  assured  by  the  pro- 
phot  that  God  had  pardoned  his  sins,  but  he  was  told 
that  because  he  had  made  the  enemies  of  God  blas- 
pheme him,  the  child  born  to  him  should  surely  die,  and 
because  he  had  struck  Urias,  the  llethite,  with  the 
sword,  and  taken  his  wife,  "  the  sword  shall  never  de- 
part from  his  house,"  and  that  "the  Lord  would  raise 
up  evil  against  him  out  of  his  own  house."* 

Also,  when  David  sinned  by  numbering  the  people, 
he  prayed  for  pardon  and  obtained  it,  yet  it  was  on  the 
condition  of  sustaining  the  terrors  of  a  three  days  pes- 
tilence, which  came  as  "  the  sword  of  the  Lord,"  and 
destroyed  of  Israel  seventy  thousand  men.  These  are 
examples  of  satisfaction  exacted  by  God,  who  sent  his 
chastisement  in  punishment  of  sins  which  He  had  for- 
given. The  Scriptures  also  contain  many  examples  of 
voluntary  satisfactions,  such  as  David's  fastings  and 
penances;  the  history  of  the  penances  of  the  Ninivites, 

*2  Kings  xii:  9,  1U,  11,  13,  14. 


OF    PENANCE.  217 

and  the  declaration  of  our  Saviour  that  they  shall  rise 
up  in  judgment  against  us  unless,  after  their  example, 
we  also  do  penance ;  the  penances  of  King  Manassas, 
and  of  the  Jews  of  Bethulia.  "Be  converted,"  says 
the  prophet  Joel,  "  be  converted  to  me  with  your  whole 
heart,  in  fasting,  and  in  weeping  and  in  mourning,"* 
&c.  "  Unless,  you  do  penance,"  says  the  Saviour,  "you 
shall  all  likewise  perish,  "f 

This  necessity  of  satisfaction  is  itself  a  pnoof  of  God's 
mercy  because  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  it. 

1st.  It  teaches  that  sins  committed  after  baptism  are 
more  grievous  than  those  of  the  unbaptized,  as  they  are 
more  severely  punished,  and  thus  inspires  a  horror  for 
sin,  by  the  difficulty  of  pardon. 

2dly.  It  recalls  us  from  sin,  by  putting  a  curb  on  the 
impetuosity  of  our  passions,  and  inducing  greater  vigi- 
lance and  caution. 

3rdly.  It  cures  the  remains  of  sin,  such  as  spiritual 
languor,  too  much  attachment  to  temporal  things,  and 
a  certain  want  of  relish  for  virtue  and  good  works. 

4thly.  It  removes  vicious  habits,  by  the  acts  of  con- 
trary virtues. 

5thly.  It  averts  penalties  or  afflictions  which  God  may 
be  about  to  send  us. 

6thly.  It  renders  us  conformed  to  Jests  Christ  suf- 
fering and  satisfying ;  it  makes  the. members  similar  to 
the  head. 

7thly.  It  gives  us  a  pledge,  that,  after  suffering  with 
Christ,  we  shall  be  glorified  and  reign  with  him. 

In  the  -early  periods  of  the  churchy  the  penances 
were  prescribed  hy  certain  rules,  known  as  penitential 
canons,  and  these  show  tho  gravity  and  deformity  which, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  church,  certain  sins  have,  and 
how  rigorous  a  satisfaction  divine  justice  requires  for 
them.  The  penances  were  often  to  be  performed  pub- 
licly, especially  where  the  sins  were  known  to  the  pub- 
lic. The  repenting  sinners  constituted  four  classes, 
viz:  the  weeping,  the  hearers,  tTie  prostrate,  and  the  as- 

*Joel  »;   12,     fLukexiii:  5. 

io 


218  OF  PEKAKCl. 

sisters.  The  penances  were  often  very  severe  and  to 
last  for  a  long  term  of  years,  and  even  sometimes  for 
the  whole  lifetime.  In  these  times,  the  intention  of  the 
church  is,  that  confessors  should  be  guided  by  the  an- 
cient canons  in  estimating  the  guilt  of  sins,  and  impose 
penances  "such  as  the  Holy  Spirit  and  prudence  may 
suggest. as  salutary  and  suitable  satisfactions,  the  qual- 
ity of  the  sins  and  the  ability  of  the  penitent,  being  con- 
sidered ;"  and  "that  theyshould  keep  in  view,  that  the 
satisfaction  "which  they  impose,  be  not  only' for  the  pre- 
servation of  a  new  life  and  a  medicine  of  infirmity,  but 
also  for  the  avenging   am!   punishing  of  past  sins."* 

The  kind  of  works  that  are-  re  satisfactory,  may 

be  inferred  from  the  declaration  of  the  Council  of 
Trent:  kt  that  so  great  is  the  liberality  of  the  divine 
munificence,  that  we  are. able  through  ist  to 

make  satisfaction  to  God  the  Father,  not  only  by  punish- 
ments voluntarily  undertaken  of  ourselves  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  sin,  of  by  those  imposed  at  the  discretion  of 
the  priest  according  to  the  measure  of  our  delinquen- 
cy, but  also,  which  is  a  very  great  proof  of  love,  by  the 
temporal  scourges  inflicted  of  God,  and  borne  patient- 
ly by  us."f  * 

The  works  imposed  by  the   pri  i  nances,  or  1o 

bo  voluntarily  assumed  for  this  purpose,  may  1" 
under  three  heals,  \  iz:  prayer!  fasting,  and  alms  deeds. 
As  said  in  Tobias:  "Prayer1  is  good  with  fasting  and 
alms,  more  than  to  lay  up  treasures  of  gold." £  »v't. 
Thomas  reduces  all  such  satisfactory  works  to  ti 
three  heads,  thus:  "Whatever  pertains  to  the  affliction 
of  the  body,  the  whole  is  referred  to  lasting;  and  what 
is  done  for  the  profit  of  the  neighbour,  (he  whole  has 
the  estimation  of  alms-giving  ;  and  likewise  whatever 
is  exhibited  in  the  worship  of  God,  receives  the  estima- 
tion of  prayer.' '§  The  restitution  of  th^e  goods  of  any 
person  unjustly  taken  or  retained,  and  the   reparation 


•  Council  Trent,  Sess.  XIV :  cb,  VIII.  t  Ibid,  cli.  iX.  %  Tob. 
xii:  8.  §!>;.  Thbmai  4  i>ist.  lo  Quee.  1  Art.  4  ad  3  Satisfactio  ad 
5,  Obj. 


OF    PENANCE. 


2f$ 


of  injury  done  him  in  his  property,  his  interest,  or  his 
reputation,  is  a  thing  absolutely  indispensable,  when  it 
is  in  the  power -of  the  penitent;  and  when  it  is  not  ac- 
tually in  his  power,  he  must  at  least  have  the  will  to  do 
this  as  soon  a*s  he. has  the  ability;  but  this  restitution 
is  more  properly  considered  as  cessation  from  sift,  rath- 
er than  satisfaction  for  sin. 

Sacramental  penances,  enjoined  by  the  priest,  have 
more  efficacy  and  merit  than  mere  voluntary  penances, 
because  they  form  a  part  of  the  sacrament:  and  to  neg- 
lect their  performance  is  not  only  a  want  pf  proper  re- 
spect for  the  sacrament  and  sinful,  but  also  leaves  upon 
the  penitent  the  necessity  of  satisfying  for.  his  sins  to 
"  the  last  farthing,"  with  more  severe  works  and  suffer- 
ings. * 

Of  Absolution. 

Sacramental  absolution  is  a  judicial  sentence,  by 
which  the  priest,  as  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  forgives 
the  sins  of  Christians  who  are  truly  penitent,  and  who 
have,  as  far  as  in  their  power,  done  what  Christ  com- 
mands to  be  done,  for  obtaining  the  paroon  of  sins.  It 
is  not  a  mere  declaration  that  God  has  forgiven,  but  it 
is  a  sentence  of  judgment,  absolving  the  "guilty  person 
by  the  efficacy  of  the  act,  e.t:  opere  operate .  For  Jesus 
Christ  did  not  say,  "whose  sins  you  declare  forgiven, 
they  are  forgiven,"'  but  "whose  sins  you  shall  forgive, 
1  hey  arc  forgiven,"  &c.  The  Council  of  Trent  says: 
"  Although  the  absolution  of  the  priest  is  the  dispensa- 
tion of  another's  bounty,  yet  it  is  not  a  bare  ministry 
cnl3r,  whether  of  announcing  the  gospel,  or  of  dcclar- 
that  sin?  are  forgiven,  but  is  alter  the  manner  of  a 
judicial  act,  whereby  sentence  i-  pronounced  by  the 
priest  as  a  judge."* 

The  power  given  by  Jesus  Christ  was  not  only  to 
forgive  but  also  to  retain  sins.  Hence,  the  priest  may 
deter  or   refuse  absolution   according  as  he  judges  the 

*fonncil  Trent,  Sess.  XIV.  Ch.  VI. 


120  OF   PENANCE. 

penitent  unprepared  or  unworthy  to  receive  the  pardon 
of  his  sins.  He  is  not  left  to  act,  in*  an  arbitrary  man- 
ner, but  according  to  certain  rules,  -which,  in  the  ap- 
proved rituals  of  the  church  or  in  ecclesiastical  statutes, 
regulate  the  proper  administration  of  the  sacrament  of 
penance.  Among  these  rules,  the  following  prescribe 
that  absolution  should  be  deferred  till  persons,  in  cer- 
tain cases,  prove  themselves  worthy  to  receive  it,  by  re- 
moving that  which  is  an  impediment : 

1st.  Such  as  sin  from  a  depraved  habit,  are  not  to  be 
absolved  until  they  amend  their  life. 

2d.  Those  "who  are  in  the  proximate  occasion  of  sin, 
until  they  withdraw  from  it,' if  this  be  possible,  and*  es- 
pecially if  it  be  a  thing  bad  in  itself,  which  constitutes 
such. proximate  occasion. 

8d.  Those  who  entertain  cSimity,  until  they  do  what 
is  in  their  power  to  effect  a  reconciliation. 

4th.  Those  who  have  unjustly  taken  or  who  unjustly 
retain  the  goods  of  another,  until  they  make  restitution 
as  far  as  in  their  power. 

5th.  Those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  elements  of 
faith  and  of  the  principal  mysteries  and  precepts  of  re- 
ligion, and  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  things  neces- 
sary for  rightly  fulfilling  the  duties  of  their  particular 
state  of  life  or  office,  until  they  have  learned  these 
things,  and  know  them. 

When  absolution  is  denied,  it  is  the  duty  of  .the  pen- 
itent to  remove  the  .impediment  as  soon  as  he  is  able  ;- 
and  when  it  is  deferred,  merely  that  t'he  penitent  may 
prepare  himself  better,  he  ought  to  give  his  attention 
to  this,  and  by  pious  reading,  prayer,  meditation,  and 
penitential  works  dispose  himself  to  receive  the  sen- 
tence which  will  efface  his  guilfand  reconcile  him  with 
God. 

The  reconciliation  of  the  sinner  with  God  is  the  prin- 
cipal effect  of  the  sacrament  of  penance,  for  absolu- 
tion can  confer  this  benefit  on  any  sinner,  no  matter 
how  numerous,  or  how  great  may  be  his  sins,  if  he  re- 
ceive it  with  the  required  dispositions;  and  not  only 
§nce,  but  as  often  as  sinners  shall  present  themselves 


OF    PENANCE.  221 

with  sentiments  of  contrition,  since  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ  are  not  restricted  :  "  "Whatsoever  you  shall  loose 
on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  "But  if  the 
wicked,"  saith  the  Lord,  "do  penance  for  all  the  sins 
which  he  hath  committed,  and  keep  all  my  command- 
ments ;  and  do  judgment  and  justice,  living  he  shall 
live,  and  shall  not  die.  I  will  not  remember  all  the  in- 
iquities which  he  hath  done."*  "  Say  to  them  :  As  I 
live  saith  the  Lord,  I  desire  not  the  death  of 'the  wick- 
ed, but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way,  and  live."t 
Th\s  is  the  assurance  of  God's  niercy  e,ven  to  the  great- 
est sinners,  if  they  are  converted  and  seek  forgiveness 
through  the  Redeemer  and  his  sacraments,  as  "he  is 
the -propitiation  for  our  sins  ;  and  not  only  for  ours,  but 
also  for  the  sins  of  the  .whole  world. "|  If  the  Scrip- 
tures speak  -of  the  pin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  not 
to  be  forgiven,  or  use  expressions  which  seem  to  favour 
the  opinion  of  certain  heretics,  who  pretended  that 
some  sins  are  too  great  for  the  power  of  the  keys,  the 
church  teaches,  that  the  power  of  the  keys  extends  to 
all  sins  whatever  that  are  submitted  to  it  with  proper 
sentiments  of  contrition,  and  that  those  passages  of 
Scripture  are  to  be  understood,  not  as  indicating  the 
absolute  impossibility  of  remission,  but  the  extreme 
difficulty  to  obtain  for  such  sins  the  grace  of  sorrow 
and  pardon,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  bringing  such 
sinners  to  true  repentance.  In  this  sacrament,  the  re- 
conciliation of  the  sinner  with  God  is  produced  by  sanc- 
tifying grace,  and,  if  he  have  been  already  reconciled 
before,  he  is  purified  still  more  by  an  increase  of  grace, 
through  the  influence  of  the  sacrament. 

Of  the  Minister  of  this  Sacrament. 

"We  have  said,  that  "the  confession  of  our  sins  must 
be  made  to  an  approved  priest."  It  is  of  faith,  that 
only  those  who  have  been  validly  ordained  ministers  of 
Christ,  the  bishops  and  priests  of  his   church,  can  be 

*  JEzech.   xviii:  21,  22.     f  IMJ,  xxxiii.     J  1  John  ii :  2. 


222  OF   PENANCE. 

ministers  of  this  sacrament.  The  power  of  Order  is 
indispensably  necessary  as  defined  by  the  Council  of 
Trent,*  and  always  believed  in  the  church,  and  taught 
by  the  Fathers  and  councils.  And  this  is  clear  also 
from  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  something  more  than  the  power  of  Order  is  ne- 
cessary to  exercise  the  high  office  of  minister  of  t]\e 
sacrament  of  penance.  It  is  necessary  to  have  also 
jurisdiction,  or  to  have  an  approbation  and  powers  from 
the  proper  ecclesiastical  authority.  The  Council  of 
Trent  says:  "  "Wherefore  since  the  nature  and  order  of 
a  judgment  require  this,  that' sentence  be  .passed  only 
on  those  subject  (to  that  judicature)  it  has  ever  been 
firmly  held  in  the  church  of  God,  and  thia  Synod  rati; 
lies  it  as  a  thing  most  true,  that  the  absolution  which  a 
priest  pronounces  upon  one  over  wlmm  he  has  not  eith- 
er an  ordinary  or  a  delegated  jurisdiction  ought  to  be 
of  no  weight  whatever. "f  The  absolution  of  a  priest, 
not  approved  or  authorized  by  the  lawful" superior,  by 
the  Pope  or  by  the  ordinary  of  the  diocess,  to  hear 
confessions  and  administer  this  sacrament,  is  null  and 
void.  Therefore,  such  approbation  can  be  given  in 
terms  which  limit  it  as  to  the  duration  of  time,  the 
place,  and  the  pe  And  it    is   also   a   doctrine  of 

faith,  that,  for  the  discipline  of  the  Christian  people, 
the  sovereign  pontiff  as  regards  the  whole  church,  and 
the  bishops  in  their  diocese,  have  the  power  to  reserve 
certain  more  atrocious  and  more  heinous  crimes,  and 
especially  crimes  to  which  the  censure  of  excommunica- 
tion is  annexed,  which  cannot  be  absolved  except  by 
themselves,  or  by  those  who  have  received  a  special 
permission  or  power  to  grant  such  absolution.  "Arid 
it  is  consonant  to  the  divine  authority,  that  this  reser- 
vation of  eases  have  effect,  not  merely  in  external  poli- 
tv,  but  also  in  God's  sight. "|  But  as  the  church  or- 
ders this  unto  edification  and  not  unto  destruction",  she 
gives  jurisdiction   to  all   lawfully  ordained  priests   for 


*  Couac.  Trent.  Bess.  XIY.,  CU.  VI,  ami  Can.  X.     t  Ibid,  ch.  VII. 
%  Ibid.     » 


or  penance.  223 

persons  found   in  '*,  or  at   the   point  of  death  ; 

therefore  the  Council  says  :  "  Nevertheless,  for  fear  lest 
any  may  perish  on  this  account,  it  has  always  been  very 
piously  observed  in  the  said  church  of  God,  that  there 
lie  no  reservation  at  the  point  of  (hath,  and  that  there- 
fore all  priests  may  absolve  all  penitents  whatsbever 
from  every  kind  of  sin  and  censures  whatever."*  Also, 
to  priests,  approved  for  hearing  confessions,  general 
powers  over  all  reserved  cases  are  given  in  time  of  a 
general  jubilee,  except  in  case  of  a  person  affected  hy 
a'censure  for  injustice  to  a  third  party,  and  publicly  de- 
nounced, until  lie  has  satisfied  the  exactions  of  justice. 
The  sacrament  of  penance  can  only  be  administered 
to  those  who  have  received  baptism,  since  the  church 
only  claims  jurisdiction  over  such  as  have  entered  into 
her  membership  through  the  door  of  baptism.  But  all 
baptized  persons,. able  to  contract  the  guilt  of  sin,  can 
receive  this  sacrament,  and  even  if  they  have  only  to 
accuse  themselves  of  venial  sins,  they  can  partake  of 
the  benefit  of  this  sacrament,  since  venial  pins  may  bo 
usefully  subjected  to  the  power  of  the  keys.  The  ne- 
cessity of  this  sacrament  for  baptized  sinners  in  or- 
der to  recover  God's  friendship,  by  the  pardon  of 
their  sins  is  so  great,  that,  with  baptism,  it  ranks  as  a 
)i('c,ss'arif  means  of  salvation.  It  has  been  instituted 
for  conferring  the  first  sanctifying  grace  which  effaces 
mortal  sins  from  the  soul.  Yet  when  there  is  an  im- 
possibility to  receive  it  actually,  as  God  does  not  de- 
mand impossibilities,  the  church  teaches  that  a  desire  to 
iv;e  it  suffices,  if  the  person  with  God's  grace  ex- 
cites himself  to  perfect  contrition.  Sufficient  grace  is 
not  refused  to  him  who  does  the  best  in  his  power, 
and  who  solicits  it.  Perfect  contrition,  which,  of  it- 
self, because  of  its  proceeding  from,  the  love  of  God 
above  all  things  for  himself  as  infinitely  good  and  per- 
fect, reconciles  the  sinner  to  God  even  before  absolu- 
tion, nevertheless  includes  the  desire  of  receiving  this 
sacrament,  for  whoever  loves  .God  will   be  prepared,  if 


•  Council   of  Trent,  Sets.  XIV,  Cli.  '^  11. 


224  01'    INDULGENCES. 

» 

in  his  power,  to  do  the  will  of  God  manifested  by  his 
leaving  with  his  church  the  power  to  forgive  and  to  re- 
tain sins,  and  therefore  he  will  have  the  desire  to  sub- 
mit himself  to  the  tribunal  of  penance. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

OF    INDULGENCES.  •    , 

It  is  proper  to  present  the  doctrine  of  the  church  on 
the  subject  of  Indulgences,  by  way  of  appendix  to  the 
exposition  of  the  sacrament  of  Penance,  because  the 
church  grants  them  in  virtue  of  the  plenary  power  of 
the  keys  :  "  Whatsoever  you  shall  loose  on  earth  shall 
be  loosed  in  heaven;"  and  because  they  concern  the 
temporal  punishment  which  God  often  requires  feorn  the 
sinner,  after  he  has,  by  the  sacrament  of  Penance,  can- 
celled the  guilt  of  his  sins  and  the  punishment  of  eter- 
nal damnation.  Besides,  those  who  are  investigating 
the  doctrines  of  faith,  having  considered  the  nature  of' 
the  sacrament  of  Penance,  its  constituent  parts,  its  ab- 
solute necessity  for  the  sinner,  when  possible,  must 
readily  perceive  how  calumnious  it  is,  to  accuse  the 
church  of  furnishing  a  license  to  sin  by  granting  indul- 
gences,* as  if  indulgences  were  the*reinitting  and  the 
permitting  of  offences  against  God. 

An  indulgence  is  not  a  remission  of  sin,  and  "much 
less  a  permission  to  sin,  but  it  is  a  merciful  relaxation 
or  remission,  (by  applying  the  superabundant  satisfac- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ)  of  the  temporal  punishment  which 
remains  due  for  sins,  after  the  sins,  themselves  and  -the 
eternal  damnation  due  to  njortal  sin,  have  been  remitted 
by  the  sacrament  of  Penance,  or  by  perfect  contrition 
with  the  desire  of  this  sacrament. 

The  Council  of  Trent  speaks  thus:  "Whereas  the 
power  of  conferring  indulgences  was  granted  by  Christ 


J 


OF   INDULGENCES.  225 

to  the  church  and  she  has,  even  in  the  most  ancient 
times,  used  the  said  power,  delivered  unto  her  of  God, 
the  sacred  holy  Synod  teaches,  and  enjoins,  "that  the 
use  of  indulgences,  for  the  Christian  people  most  salu- 
tary, and  approved  of  by  the  authority  of  sacred  coun- 
cils, is  to  be  retained  in  the  church;  and  it  condemns 
with  anathema  those  who  either  assert  that  they  are 
useless ;  or  who  deny  that  there  is  in  the  church  the 
power  of  granting  them."*  In  express  terms,  this  de- 
cree shows  two  things  as  of  faith:  1st,  that  indulgen- 
ces are  most  salutary  to  the  Christian  people.  2dly, 
.that  the  church  has  the  power  to  grant  £hem. 

The  condemnation,  by  Pope  Leo  X,  of  Luther's  prop- 
osition "that  indulgences,  have  not  the  power  to  remit 
the  punishment  due  to  the  divine  justice  for  actual 
sins,''  and  again,  the  condemnation  of  the  same  by  Pope 
Pius  VI.  show  that  the  contradictory  is  the  sentiment  of 
the  church,  and  that  indulgences  are  not  merely  an  ex- 
terior remission  of  the  Ecclesiastical  penances  which 
were  assessed  by  the  penitential  canons,  but  are  a  re- 
mission before  God  of  the  temporal  punishment  due  to 
the  divine  justice  for  sins,  either  partly  or  entirely,  ac- 
cording as  the  indulgence  is  partial  or  plenary.  St. 
Thomas  argues  that,  if  indulgences  only  availed  before 
the  external  tribunal  of  the  church  and  not  before  God, 
they  would  cause  more  harm  than  utility,  by  absolving 
merely  from  the  penances  enjoined  by  the  canons,  and 
leaving  persons  to  endure  more  grievous  punishments 
in  purgatory,  and  declares  such  an  opinion  not  true, 
because  it  is  expressly  contrary  to  the  privilege  given 
to  St.  Peter,  that  "  Whatsoever  he  should  loose  on  earth 
should  be  loosed  in  heaven."  He  concludes  that  they 
avail  both  before  the  external  tribunal  of  the  church 
and  the  judgment  of  God  for  the  remission  of  the  pun- 
ishment, enjoined  or  not",  which  remained  after  contri- 
tion, confession,  and  absolution.  And  he  thus  clearly 
and  beautifully  presents  the  reasons  why  they  have  this 
power.     lie   g#ys :  '"The  reason  is  the  unity  of  the 

•  Counc.  Trent,  feces.  XXV,  Ch.  XXI.      - 


220  OF   INDULGENCES. 

mystic  body  (the  church)  in  which  many  have  done  more 
penances  than  the  measure  of  their  debts  exacted,  and 
many  "also  have  patiently  suffered  many  unjust  tribula- 
tions, by  which  they  could  expiate  a  great  amount  of 
punishment  had  such  been  due  to  them  ;  these  merits  - 
are  in  such  abundance  that  they  exceed  all  the 
punishment  due  to  thosp  who  arc  now  living,  and 
especially  because  of  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who,  although  he  operates  in.  the  sacraments,  does 
not  nevertheless  confine  his  efficacy  to  them,  but  by 
his  infinity  exceeds  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments. 
Now  Ave  have^before  said,  that  one  may  satisfy  for 
another.  But  the  saints  in  whom  is  found  a  superabun- 
dance of  satisfaction,  have  not  done  these  works  dcter- 
minately  for  him  who  has  need  of  remission  (otherwise 
ho  would  obtain  it  without  any  indulgence),  but  they 
have  done  them  in  common  for  the  wdiote  church,  as  the 
Apostle  says,  that  "  he  filled  up  those  things  that  are 
wanting  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  his  flesh,  for  his 
body,  which  is  the  church."  (Coloss.  i:  24.)  These 
merits  arc  then  common  to  the  whole  church.  Now 
things,  which  are  common  to  a  multitude,  are  distribu- 
ted to  each  of  its  members  according  to  the  will  of  him 
who  presides  over  the  multitude.  Thus,  as  any  one 
would  obtain  the  remission  of  punishment  if  another 
had  satisfied  for  him,  the  same  thing  happens,  when  the 
satisfaction  of  another  is  apportioned  to  him  by  the  one 
who  has  the  power  to  do  so."* 

An  indulgence  is  then  an  application  of  the  satisfac- 
tion of  Christ  to  some  member  of  his  mystic  body.  The 
satisfaction  of  Christ  is  *an  exhaust  less  treasury  f  for  « 
the  church,  because  of  the  infinite  value  and  p/ice  of 
his  precious  blood.  "He  died  for  all,"  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  price  of  his  satisfactions  has  not  been  actu- 
ally applied  to  all,  for  then  it  would  follow  that  all  men, 

*  St.  Thos.  Supplement,  3  ques   xxv.  Art.  1.  in  Coru-1. 

f  Pope  "Clement  VK  seems  to  be  the  first  to#call  the  merits  of 
Christ's  passion  and  the  satisfaction  of  his  saint*,  ,:  tTie  treasury  of 
the  church."  St.  Augustine,  on- the  Gist  I'.-alui,  says  something 
similar. 


OF   INDULGENCES.  227 

who  have  lived,  must  have  been  saved.  Consequently 
great  abundance-  of  the  price  of  his  passion  and  death 
(if  it  were  not  infinite,  as  it  really  is)  must  still  remain 
to  be  applied,  and  will  always  be  found  in  the  treasury 
committed  to  his  body,  which  is  the  church.  And  if 
the  merits  and  satisfaction  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  St. 
John*Baptist,  and  other  saints,  be  said  to  be  in  this 
treasury,  tas  were  St.  Paul's,  and  to  form  part  thereof, 
it  is  understood  that  their  merits  and  satisfactions  .have 
their  virtue  and  value  from  the  passion  of  our  Saviour; 
and  it  is  only  as  dependent  on  his  merits  and  being  in 
a  certain  sense  his,  that  they  give  increase  to  this  trea- 
sury; and  consequently  it  may  be  truly  said  that  origi- 
nally and  primarily,  only  the  merits  of  the  passion  of 
Jesus  Christ  constitute  the  riches  of  this  treasury. 
From  St.  Paul's  declaration,  that  for  "the  body. of 
Christ,  which  is  his  church,"  he,  hi  his  flesh,  or  by  his 
satisfactions  (receiving  their  value  from  Christ's  passion,) 
"  makes  up  what  is  wanting  of  Christ's  sufferings,"  it 
is  fair  to  say  that  he  increased  the  spiritual  treasury  of 
the  church.  Not  that  anything  can  be  wanting  to  the  in- 
finite merits  of  Christ's  passion,  but  because  Christ,  in 
constituting  himself  head  of  the  church  as  his  mystic 
body,  wills  that  his  sufferings  should,  with  the  sufferings 
of  the  members  of.  his  body  (being  made  available  from 
the  merits  of  his  pass-ion)  constitute  one  common  trea- 
sury for  the  whole  church,  from  which  satisfaction  may, 
on  due  conditions,  be  apportioned  to  more  needy  mem- 
bers. 

Though  general  councils  of  the  church  and  bishops 
in  their  dioccss,  may  grant  indulgences,  the  visible  head 
of  Christ's  church,  the  rope,  is  the  chief  dispenser  of 
this  treasury,  and  he  can  apply  it  to  release  men  from 
the  temporal  punishment  which  may  be  due  to  their  sins 
after  these  have  been  forgiven  in  the  sacrament  of  pen- 
ance ;  for  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  are  general: 
"  Whatsoever  you  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in 
heaven,"  and  if  the  power,  within  the  kingdom  of  God  es- 
tablished for  the  salvation  of  men,  be  at  all  limited,  the 
church   herself,    instructed    by   Apostolical   tradition, 


228  OF   INDULGENCES. 

■would  know  and  understand  such  limitation.  The  pun- 
ishment is  as  remissible  as  the  sins  ;  and  if  Jesus  Christ 
has  left  with  his  church  the  power  by  means  of  the  sacra 
ments,  to  dispense  his  merits  for  the  remission  of  the  sins 
and  the  eternal  punishment,  even  in  favor  of  his  enemies, 
with  greater  reason  should  we  believe  that,  to  the  same 
church,  he  gave  the  power  to  dispense  the  merits *bf  his 
passion  for  the  remission  of  the  temporal  punishment, 
in  favor  of  his  friends. 

This  power  has  been  continually  claimed  and  exer- 
cised. St.  Paul  saying  that  he  acted  "  in  .the  person 
of  Christ,"  pardoned  the  excommunication,  which  rest- 
ed upon  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  who  had  already  re- 
pented, and*been  forgiven  his  sin  by  the  proper  author- 
ities of  the  church  of  Corinth.  "  Whom  you  have  par- 
dqned,  I  also  pardon,"  writes  the  Apostle.  At  the  re- 
quest of  the  Corinthians  he  removed  the  temporal  pun- 
ishment as  to  the  exterior  tribunal  of  the  church  and 
before  God,  and  thus  .granted  a  veritable  indulgence. 
Tertuilian*  and  St.  Cyprianf  show  howT  the  bishops  of 
the  early  church  were  accustomed,. at  the  entreaty  of 
confessors  and  martyrs,  to  grant  indulgences. 

The  popes  also,  as  we  read  in  church  history,  as  Leo 
III.,  Gregory  the  Great,  Urban  IL,  Innocent  JIL, 
Paschal  1,  and  many  others,  exercised  this  power.  It 
is  warranted  by  the  approbation  of  provincial  and  gen- 
eral councils,  as  the  first  of  iS'ice,  that  of  Ancyra,  that 
of  Laodicea,  that  of  Clermont,  that  of  Lateran,  the 
councils  of  Vienna,  of  Constance,  and  of  Trent.  From 
the  power  being  general,  indulgences  may  be  either 
partial  or  plenary,  and  remit  either  a  portion  or  the 
whole  of  the  temporal  punishment. 

However,  as  the  Pope  is  dispenser,  and  not  Lord  of- 
the  treasury  of  the  church,  there  should  always  be  a 
just  and  reasonable  cause  for  the  grant  of  an  indul- 
gence. And  to  profit  by  an  indulgence,  it  is  necessary 
that  a  person  be  in  the  state  of  grace,  and  faithfully 
comply  with  the  conditions  that  are  specified,  and  per- 


*  Lib.  ad  Martyr,      t  Cyp.  Ep.  13,  14,  15,  ct  Serm.  nit.  de  Lapsis. 


OF   INDULGENCES.  •  229 

form  the  good  works  that  are  indicated  in  the  terms  of 
the  grant.  Besides  receiving  the  sacraments  of  pen- 
ance and  the  Holy  Eucharist,  the  terms  commonly  re- 
quire" such  works  as  prayer,  the  visiting  of  churches, 
listings,  alms-gi ving,  and  the  like.  Nor  is  the  sinner, 
by  means  of  indulgences,  relieved  from  the  obligation 
of  doing  what  is  in  his  power  to  make  satisfaction  to 
God,  since  this  is  imposed  on  him  by  the  gospel,  say- 
ing: "Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  worthy  of  pen- 
ance."* The  church  intends  to  aid  him  and  supply  his 
inability,  but  not  to  exempt  him  from  the  obligation 
which  he  has  contracted  by  sin  to  offer  satisfaction  to 
God  by  works  of  penance,  and  he  must  therefore  have 
the  desire  of  making  satisfaction,  and 'continue  in  the 
spirit  and  works  of  penance.  In  virtue  of  the  commu- 
nion of  sai7its,  and  of  his  connection  as  member  with 
the  mystic  body  of  Christ,  and  with  the  divine  head, 
his  weakness  is  strengthened  and  his  heart  consoled  by 
•he  benefit  he  receives  from,  a  communication  of  the  sat- 
isfaction offered  to  God  by  the  whole  body,  of  which 
he  is  a  member,  and  especially  by  its  head.  He  must 
be  conformed  to  Christ,  that  he  may  be  glorified  with 
him. 

The  church  also  is  very  careful  to  guard  against  pos- 
sible abuses,  and  orders  the  correction  of  such  as  may 
have  occurred,  recommending  that  "moderation  be  ob- 
served in  the  concession  of  indulgences,  and  that  this 
holy  gift  be  dispensed  to  all  the  faithful,  piously,  holi- 
ly,  and  incorruptly."f 

Such  is  the  doctrine  of  indulgences,  which,  as  far  as 
expressly  defined,  presents  these  two  points  of  faith. 
1st.  That  indulgences  are  salutary  to  the  faithful ;  2d. 
That  the  church  hath  power  to  grant  them.  And  it  is 
the- clear  and  constant  teaching  of  the  church  that  they 
concern  only  the.  remission  of  temporal  punishment, 
and  not  of  sin ;  and  that  they  are  beneficial  to  thoso 
who  receive   them  because   of  the.  law,  by  which  God 


*Luk<jiii:  8.  fCounc.  Trent,  Scss.  XXV.     Decree  on  Indul* 

gences. 


230  OF   EXTREME   UNCTION. 

has  constituted  a  communion  of  holt/  persons  in  holy 
things"  and  made  the. merits  and  satisfaction  of  Christ 
in  union  with  his  mystic  body,  reversible  to  individual 
members,  for  the  duty  of  satisfaction,  as,  in  the  sacra- 
ments, he  has  made  the  application  of  the  merits  of 
Christ  and  of  his  divine  and  sanctifying  graces,  the 
means  of  cleansing  the  soul  from  sin,  and  enriching  it 
with  justice  and  sanctity,  capable  of  loss,  diminution, 
or  increase,  according  as  there  is,  or  is  not,  a  corres- 
pondence with  the  favors  aud  graces  bestowed. 


CHAPTER  XXL     . 

OF  THE  SACRAMENT  OF  EXTREME  UNCTION — ITS  MATTER 
AND  FORM — ITS  EFFECTS — ITS  MINISTER — ITS  SUB- 
JECT  ITS  NECESSITY. 

The  term,  extreme  unction,  of  itself  indicates  that  it 
is  an  anointing  made  on  the  Christian  when  in  extrem- 
ity, and  it  is  bo  called,  because  it  is  the  last  of  those 
anointings  provided  by  JeSUS  Christ  to  contribute  to 
the  sanctification  of  men.  It  is  also  Called  the  sacrar 
ment  of  the  infirm  or  sick,  because  it  was  instituted  for 
such  as  by  sickness  arc  brought  into  the  danger  of 
death.  Extreme  Unction  is  thus  defined:  It  is  a  sac- 
rament in  which,  by  an  anointing  with  a  sacred  oil  and 
a  certian  formula  of  prayer,  a  celestial  virtue  is  given 
to  sick  persons  for  the  healing  and  strengthening  of 
the  soul,  and  sometimes  even  of  the  body.  It  is  of 
faith,  that  Extreme  Unction  is  a  true  sacrament  of  the 
new  law.  The  Council  of  Trent  "•declares  and  teaches, 
that  our  most  gracious  Redeemer, — who  would  have  his 
servants  at  all  times  provided  with  salutary  remedies 
against  all  the  weapons  of  all  their  enemies, — as,  in 
the  other  sacraments,  He  prepared  the  greatest  aids, 
whereby,  during  life.   Christians  may  preserve   them- 


OF   EXTREME    UNCTION.  231 

selves  whole  from  every  more  grievous  spiritual  evil,  so 
did  lie  guard  the  close  of  life,  By  the  sacrament  of  Ex- 
treme Unction,  as  with  a  most  firm  defence?'*  It  fur- 
ther 'pronounces  anathema  against  any  one  who  saith 
"that  it  is-  not  truly  and  properly  a  sacrament,  insti- 
tuted by  Christ  our  Lord,  and  promulgated  by  the 
blessed  Apostle,  St.  James."  f 

The  words  of  St.  James  are  very  clear  to  prove  that 
this  sacred  rite  has  all  the  essentials  of  a.  sacrament. 
His  words  areas  follows:  "Is  any  man  sick  among 
you?  Let  him  bring  in  the  priests  id'  the  church,  and 
let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save 
the  sick  man  :  and  fhe  Lord  shall  raise  him  up  ;  and  if 
he  be  in  sins,  they  shall  be  forgtv.fn  him.'';|;  We  have 
here  the  plain  teaching  of  the  Apostle  as  to  the  mat- 
ter, the  form,  and  the  minister  of*  this  sacrament,  as 
stated  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  is  an  outward  sign 
or  symbol,  as  such  anointing  is  a  thing  visible,  and  it 
is  efficacious  to  confer  grace  for  the  remission  of  sin, 
the  healing  and  strengthening  of  the  soul,  and  relief  of 
the  body.  The  Apostle  orders  it  "  in  the  name  of  the 
'Lord,"  and  indeed  it  must  have  been  instituted  by 
Jesus  Christ,  because  only  he  could  attach  to  such  an 
outward  rite  the  effica'eyof  grace  ami  the  effects  prom- 
ised. To  say  that  St.  James  ordered  this  to  be  done, 
by  his  own  authority^  is  disrespectful  to  an  inspired 
Apostle  and  to  his  Epistle,  which  is  held  to  be  the  in- 
spired word  of  (rod.  He  could  not  have  stated  that 
such  an  outward  act,  when  performed,  with  the  prayer 
of  faith,  by  the  priests  of  the  church,  would  "save 
the  sick,"  and  be  the  means  of  "forgiving  his  sins," 
unless  this  was  declared  to  him  by  his  divine  master  and 
instructor;  nor  could  he,  writing  under  divine  inspira- 
tion, have  left  this  record  to  the  whole  church  of  God 
in  the  future,  if  Jesus  Christ  did  not  intend  it  to  be  a 
perpetual  sacrament  in  his  chuuoh.     The  injunction  is 

*  Council  Trent.  Sessf  xiv.  cli.  ix.     flbid.  Can.  1,  on  the  eacra- 
un.'ut  til'  Exferdme  [7ncti<  n.^t  St.  James  v:  14,  15. 


232  OP   EXTREME   UNCTION. 

for  all  times,  when  any  is  sick,  to  call  in  the  priests  of 
the  church,  that  they  may  anoint  the  sick  with  oil,  while 
reciting  "the  prayer  of  faith." 

Nou  will  it  be  reasonable  to  say,  as  some  have  'done, 
that  the  Apostles  were  accustomed  to  anoint  the  sick 
with  oil,  in  order  to  work  miracles  and  cure  their  bodies 
of  disease,  and  that  no  permanent  sacrament  was  un- 
derstood by  them,  or  intended  by  Jesus  Christ.  Though 
St.  Mark  relates  that  "  the  Apostles  anointed  with  oil 
many  that  were  sick  and  healed  them,"*  it  is  not  cer- 
tain that  even  the  anointing  here  referred  to  was  not 
also  sacramental,  and  the  Council  of  Trent  seems  to  fa- 
vor the  opinion  that  it  was  sacramental,  when-  it  says 
that  "  this  sacrament  was  insinuated  indeed  in  Marlc^T 
•  but  recommended  and  promulgated  to  the.  faithful  by 
James  the  Apostle,  and  brother  of  our  Lord."     But 
supposing  that  the*  anointing  mentioned  in  St.  JNiark 
was  not  sacramental,  it  would  not  follow  that  the  anoint- 
ing  promulgated  by   St.  James,  is   not  sacramental, 
since  it  has  all  v  that  can  be  required  for  a  sacrament, 
and  does  not  merely  concern  the  healing  of  the  body, 
but  the  healing  of  the  soul  by  God's  grace,  and  the  for- 
giveness of  sins.      If  the  Apostles  anointed  with  oil 
only,  to  cure  the  body,  and  St.  James  orders  an  anoint- 
ing with  oil  and  the  prayer  of  faith,  to  save  the  sick 
and  to  forgive  his  sins,  what   he  orders  is  something 
more  than  what  they  did  in  the  cases-  mentioned  in  St. 
Mark,  if  it  be  held  they  only  anointed  in  order  to  euro     ' 
the  body ;  and  what  they  did  would  be  as  the  type  and 
shadow  of  the  sacrament  promulgated  by  St.  James. 
If  St.  James  only  meant  the  cure  of  the  body,  why  did 
he  not  say  this?  and  why  not  cure  the  lame,  the  blind, 
the  deaf,  and  the  dumb  in  the  same  manner ;  and  not, 
as  he  has  done,  limit  this  anointing  to  the  sick  ?     And 
as   the  power   of  miracles  was   granted   to  any  of  the 
faithful,  and  promised  to  faith,  why  specify  the  calling 
for  "the  priests  of  the.church"  to  perform  this  anoint- 
ing and   to.  recite  the  prayer  of  faith,  if  he  were  not 


*  Mark 


OF   EXTREME    UNCTION.  233 

speaking  of  a  sacramental  institution  ?  The  gift  of 
miracles  was  not  limited  to  any  rite,  nor  limited  to  the 
priests  of  the  church,  nor  even  bestowed  upon  all  priests, 
and  hence,  what  St.  James  enjoins  is  different,  as  it  es- 
pecially requires  the  intervention  of  "the  priests  of  the 
church,"  and,  besides  the  healing  of  the  body  when  for 
the  salvation  of  the  soul,  it  looks  particularly  to  the 
welfare  of  the  soul,  to  cleanse  it  from  sin,  and  to 
strengthen  it  with  grace  under  the  fearful  temptations 
of  the  last  hours  of  life.  As  the  rest  of  the  chapter 
is  directed  to  Christians  of  all  classes  -and  of  all 
times,  and  regards  us  as  well  as  those  who  first  read  it, 
so  must  this  also,  as  there  should  be  always  sick  per- 
sons in  need  of  help  in  tike  last  hours*  of  their  lives,  and 
always  priests  of  the  church  to  anoint  them  with  oil 
and  pray  over  them,  as  the  Apostle  directs.  If  he 
mearit  merely  the  cure  of  the  body,  all  who  obeyed  him 
Would  be  always  cured,  and  none  would  die,  but  such  as 
neglected  this  injunction ;  and  either  his  positive  dec- 
laration would  not  be  true,  or  Christians  would,  have 
continued  to  avail  themselves  of  this  injunction  to' de- 
fer death.  He  places  no  limit  as  to  time,  and  he  wrote 
this  about  twenty-eight  years  after  the  ascension  of  our 
Lord,  when  already  many  lrad  become  converts.  But 
it  is  not  probable  that  an  inspired  Apostle  of  the  Lord 
would  thus  give  a  general  injunction  to  call  the  priests 
to  anoint  with  oil,  in  order  to  work  a  miraculous  cure  of 
the  sick,  since  the  .health  of  the  body  is  not  always 
useful  to  the  soul,  nor  always  to  be  obtained  from  God  by 
prayers,  God  refusing  temporal  things  when  not  for  the 
good  of  those  who  ask  them.  Arid  as  the  Apostle  dis- 
tinctly mentions  "  the  forgiveness  of  tin"  as  the  end  to 
be  obtained  by  this  rite,  and  as  his  mission  chiefly  re- 
garded the  reconciliation  of  sinners  to  God,  we  must 
believe  that  he  chiefly  had  the  interests  .of  the  souls  of 
meH  in. his  mind,  Avhen  Writing  this  injunction  to  those 
who  should  find  themselves  seriously  sick.  He  there- 
fore, under  divine  instruction,  was  promulgating  a  sac- 
rament to  be  permanent  in  the  church. 

The  church  has  always  understood  that  the  Apostle. 


234  OF    EXTREME    UNCTION. 

spoke  here  of  one  of  the  sacraments  instituted  by  Jesus 
Christ.  For,  incidentally,  it  is  thus  referred  to  by  dif- 
ferent fathers  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  when, 
during  the  persecutions  and  troubles,  it  could  scarcely 
happen  that  the  apologists  and  writers  would  have  oc- 

m  or  need  to  speak  plainly  about  it,  because  by  the 
sick  it  would  be  piously  received  as  a  recognized  usage, 
seeing  thai  many  even  recovered  the  health  of  the  body 
by  it,  and  because  numbers,  under  the  sword  of  mar- 
tyrdom, bad  t<»  leave  the  world  by  a  death,  in  which 
they  '  receivfi  it.     But   when  the  persecutions 

•  d,    and    quiet    reigned   within    the    borders   of  the 

church,  the  testimonies,  to  Bhow  bow  the  faith  had  been 
handed  down  concerning  it,  become  more  distinct  and 

numerous,  until  we  find  that-  in    all  parts. of  the  world, 

by  the  Greek  church,  the  oriental  sects,  and  tlue  Latin 
church,  it*is  Relieved  and  used  as  a  sacrament,  arid  de- 
clared to  be  such  on  the  authority  of  apostolical  tradi- 
tion, and  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  read  in  the  epis- 
tle of  St.  James  the  Apostle.  Had  this  not  been  tbo 
faith  delivered,  it  could  not  have  happened,  that  so 
many  churches,  separated  from  the  Catholic  church, 
would  be  found  agreeing  with  her,  that  it  is  one  of  the 
seven  sacraments  instituted  b\  hrist.     Testimo- 

nies are  brought  from  Origen,*  St.  John  Chrysostom.'j 
» >yril  of  Alexandria,!  and   St.  Augustm.§       Pope 
Innocent  I,  who  -took   his   scat  in  40_',  says  expressly  _ 
that  it  is  a  sacrament,  and  not  to  be  given  to  those,  to 
whom  the  other  sacraments  would  be  refused* || 

The  Council  of  Nice  mentions  the  oil  of  the  infirm 
as  distinct  from  the  boVf  chrism,  and  the  oil  of  Cate- 
chumens. Several  Other  councils,  some  of  them  .not 
general  yet  ancient,  and  of  great  authority,  .have  can- 
ons on  Extreme  Unction.  Those  of  Constance,  of 
Florence,^  and    of  Trent,**  declare  what  is  the  doc- 


*  Orig.  in  laevit.  Horn.  ii.  f  Lib.  iii.  de"Sacerdot.  J  Lib.  vi;  de 
Actor,  in  Spir.  \  Any;,  in  Speculo.  et  Serin,  cexv.  Jj  Inn.  Ep.  nd 
Decent] um.  H  Counc.  Florence,  and  Decree  of  Vo\>£  Eugene  IV. 
ad  Anncnos,  in  14-10.     **  In  Loco.  cit. 


OP  EXTREME    UNCTION. 

trine  of  faith  upon  this  point,  and  every  one  is  required 
elieve  that  it  is  a  sacrament  of  the  New  Law. 

And  reason,  if  left  to  decide  impartially,  ought  to 
dispose  men  willingly  to  believe  a  doctrine  so  consoling 
in  itself,  and  so  expressive  of  the 'provident  mercy,  and 
the  author  of  our  faith.  He  not  only  pro- 
gs divine  aid  for  man  in  the  beginning,  aud  through 
the  progress  of  Life,  by  means  of.efficac 
where  the  outward  sign,  which   he   has  civ  -  i  me- 

morial and  pledge  of  the  spiritual  help  bestowed,  but 
In-  remembers  him  a;  the  decisive  and  terrifying  hour  of 
death,  and  is  still  beside  him  with  a  sacrament  to  fur- 
nish the  help  which  the  Christian  is  most  in  need  of 
just  then,  when  the  body,  weak  and  suft'ering.  afflicts 
the  soul  thai  is  about  to  free  itself  from  its  tabernacle 
of  clay,  and  causes  it  to  dread  the  dawning  oil  eternity, 
the  judgment  seat  of  God,  the  scales  in  v^hich  its  faith 
and  works  arc  to  be  weighed,  and  the  powerful  efforts  of 
the  devil,  who,  seeing  that  hi*  time  is  short,  is  the  more- 
active  to  tempt  to  presumption  or  despair.  With  this 
sacrament,  Jesus  Christ  strengthens  the  body  to  bear 
its  suffering^  patiently  and  in  the  spirit  of  penance, 
washes  the  soul  from  the  sins  that  may  remain,  removes 
its  languor,  excites  the  iniluences  of  faith,  hope,  and 
charity  within  it,. and/even  at  times,  when  necessary 
for  its  salvation,  gives  it  further  tyne  to  work  out  its 
salvation.  Why  should  any  be  unwilling  to  believe  in 
this  mercy  of  God  ?  The  cross  of  Christ,  with  the 
unction  of  the  holy  oil  and  the  deprecatory  prayer  of 
faith,  is  signed  upon  the  senses  of  the  body,  those  doors 
to  the  soulT  that  even  when  the  soul  leaves,  for  a  time, 
its  decaying  tabernacle  of  flesh,  the  ruins  may  be  laid 
away  as  sacred  to  await  the  hour  of  resurrection,  and 
that  survivors  may  learn  from  this  care  of  Christ  for 
the  members  of  his  mystic  body,  what  a  high  dignity  it 
is,  aud  what  a  blessing  to-be  a  true  Christian. 

Of  the -Blatter  and  the  Form  of  this  Sacrament. 

St,  James  has  indicated  oil  as  the  remote  matter  of 


236  OF   EXTREME    UXCTION. 

this  sacrament,  "anointing  him  with  oil."  The  proxi- 
mate matter  is  the  unction  itself,  made  with  the  oil. 
The  only  kind  of  oil  admitted  as  the  matter  of  this  sac- 
rament, is  oil  expressed  from  olives,  such  as  was  used 
at  the  time,  and  which  by  excellence  has  this  name  of 
oil.  The  Council  of  Trent  says  :  "  For  the  church  has 
understood  the  matter  thereof  to  be  oil  blessed  by  a 
bishop.  For  the  unction  very  aptly  represents,  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  which  the  soul  of  the 
sick  person  is  invisibly  anointed."*  It  has  been  a  con- 
stant precept  and  discipline  in  the  church,  that  this  oil 
for  the  sick,  as  well  as  that  for  baptism -and  the  holy 
chrism,  should  be  consecrated  by  a  bishop,  but  no  ex- 
press de.cision  has  been  made  that  this  blessing  by  a 
bishop  is  essential  to  the  truth  and  validity  of  the  sac- 
rament of  Extreme  Unction,  though  indisputably  ne- 
cessary by  jlrecept.  Many  theologians,  o£  great  name 
and  authority,  consider  the  blessing  of  the  oil  by  a 
•bishop  as  essential  to  the  validity  of  Extreme  Unction, 
which,  in  practice,  is  the  opinion  to  be  followed.  Pope 
Eugenius  IV.,  in  his  decree  to  the  Armenians,  writes : 
"  The  matter  of  Extreme  Unction  is  olive  oil,  blessed 
by  a  bishop. "f  The  Council  of  Trent  says  that  the 
'  church  has  learned  this  from  tradition. 

The  form  of  this  sacrament  consists  of  the  following 
words  used  by  the  priest  at  each  anointing,  with  a  change 
to  suit  the  part  of  the  body  anointed :  "  Through  this 
holy  unction,  and  his  own  most  tender  mercy,  may  the 
Lord  pardon  thee  whatever  sins  thou  hast  committed  by 
thy  sight,"  "  by  thy  hearing,"^  &c.  It  is  called  by  St. 
James  "the  prayer  of  faith,"  not  that  it  depends  on 
the  faith  of  him  who  recites  it,  but  because  it  is  dicta- 
ted by  faith,  and  by  faith  alone  understood  as  a  sacra- 

*  Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  XIV,  on  Ex.  Una  Ch.  1.      f  Decret.  ad  Ar- 

menos. 

1  The  rubric  or  rule  prescribes  an  unction  fo.r  each  of  the  senses, 
that  for  the  sense  of  touch  being  twofold,  that  is  on  tiie  hands  and 
feet.  For  males,  an  unction  for  the  loins  or  small  of  the  back  is 
prescribed,  but  because  of  the,  difficulty  of  moving  the  sick  and  in- 
convenience to  tliem,  seldom  used.  In  urgent  cases  one  anointing 
augjees,  which* is  made  on  the  head  as  the  seat  of  the  senses, 


I 


OF   EXTREME   UNCTION-.  237 


mental  word,  which,  in  union  with  the  Unction,  forms 
the  sacrament.  In  this  form  it  is  to  be  noted,  th^t,  by 
.the  words,  are  expressed  :  1st,  the  principal  cause,  viz: 
the  mercy  of  God;  2d,  the  instrumental  cause,  that  is, 
the  sacred  unction ;  and  3d,  the  effect,  which  is  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  and  consequently  the  health  of  tho  body 
when  for  the  benefit  of  the  soul,  'in  as  much  as  sin  is 
often  a  cause  of  sickness,  and,  by  a  removal  of  the 
cause,  the  body  may  more  easily  be  restored  to  health  ; 
for  our  Saviour,  when  he  cured  the  person  at  the  pro- 
batic  pond,  said  to  him:  "  13ehold  thou  art  made  whole  : 
sin  no  more,  lest  some  worse  thing  happen  to  thee."* 

This  form  is  deprecatory,  or  in  the  form  of  a  prayer, 
as  commanded  by  the  Apostle  :  "  Let  them  pray  over 
him,"  and,  while  it  expresses  the  effect,  ijt  also  deter- 
mines the  matter,  which  is  the  sacred  unction  ;  although 
indeed  an  indicative  form  could  also  include  prayer, 
and,  should  the  church  prescribe  such,  might  avail  in 
the  administration  of  this  sacrament.  Some,  with  Eel- 
larmine,  among  various  reasons  why  the  form  should  be 
•deprecatory,  assign  as  a  chief  reason,  that  this  sacra- 
ment is  the  complement  of  the  sacrament  of  penance, 
and  as  it  were  the  penance  of  the  infirm,  who  cannot 
any  longer  do  works  of  penance.  In  it,  the  mercy  of 
God  operates,  and  an  appeal  is  made  to  that  mercy  in 
behalf  of  the  sinner :  "  May  the  Lord  pardon  thee,"  &c. 

Of  its  Effects. 

It  is  of  faith,  that  the  sacrament  of  Extreme  Unc- 
tion confers  grace,  remits  sins,  and  relieves  the  sick. 
The  Council  of  Trent  expresses  these  eff^eets  in  its  chap- 
ter on  the  effects  of  this  sacrament,  saying :  "More- 
over the  thing  signified,  and  the  effect  of  this  sacra- 
ment are  explained  in  these  words  :  And  the  prayer  of 
k  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man,  and  the  Lord  shall  raise 
\  him  up,  and  if  he  be  in  his  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven- 
him.     For  the  tiling  here^signified  is  the  grace  of  tho 


- 


John  v :  14. 


238  OF   EXTREME   UNCTION. 

Holy  Ghost,  whose  anointing  cleanses  •  away  sins,  if 
there*be  any  still  to  be  expiated,  as  also  the  remains  of 
siiis ;  and  raises  up  and  strengthens  the  soul  *of  the 
sick  person,  by  exciting  in  him  a  great  confidence  in 
the  divine  mercy,  whereby  the  sick  being  supported, 
bears  more  easily  the  inconveniences  and  pains  of  his 
sickness  ;  and  more  readily  resists  the  temptations  of 
the  devil,  who  lies. in  Wait  for  his  heel ;  and  at  times 
obtains  bodily  health,  when  expedient  for  the  welfare 
of  his  soul."*  All  have  to  admit  the  doctrine  as  here 
stated  by  the  Council.  Theologians  may  discuss  whether  . 
Extreme  Unction  remits 'only  venial  sins,. directly,  and 
whether  it  remits  mortal  sins,  directly  or  indirectly. 
While  agreeing  that  baptism;  and  penance  were  insti- 
tuted for  the  direct  end  of  remitting  mortal  sins,  ami 
classing  Extreme  Unction  among  the  sacraments  of  the 
living,  which  suppose  the  state  of  grace  in  him  who  re- 
ceives them,  they  all  admit  that  Extreme  Unction  re- 
mits mortal  sins,  if  any  remain  in  the  soul  to  be  expi- 
ated, when  it  is  administered.  All  agree  that  the  sin- 
ner, when   he  has   it  in   his    power,  should    receive  the 

anient  of  Penance  before  Extreme  Unction.  They  I 
agree  that  if  after  receiving  absolution,  the  person  had 
unknowingly  contracted  the  guilt  of'mortal  sin,  or  .was 
not  as  well  disposed  as  requisite  when  receivii 
lution,  then  this  sacrament,  received  with  attrition, 
would  remit  such  sins,  as  well  as  any  other  remains  of 
sin  that  might  be  in  the  soul.  Some  say  it  would  do 
this  directly,  others  secondarily  onLy.     But  the  sinner, 

iving  the  benefit,  need'  not  care  which  opinion  is 
better  grounded.  As  St.  James  says:  "If  he  be  in 
his  sins,  they  sIkiII  be  forgiven;"  and  the  sacramental 
fown  is  general,  •'  Whatever  sins,"  and  the  Council  of 
Trent  speaks  in  general  terms:  ''Whose  anointing 
cleanses  away  sins,"  it  would  seem  that,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances required,  this  sacrament,  directly  and  of 
"itself  and  not  merely  by  accident,  remits  mortal  sif 
the  last   hours   of  life,  because   instituted  for  this  end. 

*  Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  xiv :  eh.  ix,  on  Ext.  JJuc.  ch.  ii. 


OF   EXTREME. UNCTION.  230 

And  though  this  grace  is  proper  to  this  sacrament  in 
the  said,  circumstances,  it  is  still  true  that  it  was  not 
instituted  particularly  for  bestowing  the  first  grace,  or 
the  grace  of  reconciliation,  but  rather  a  grace  to  aug- 
ment the  Banctification  of  the  soul,  to  efface,  lighter 
faults,  to  dissipate  the  languors  which  sin  leaves  in  the 
soul,  to  complete  the  work  of  its  cure,  and  roacliing  to 
the  body  to  relieve  the  weight  of  its  sufferings,  and 
solace  the  whole  man.  It  also  helps  to  remove  some- 
thing of  the  debt* of  punishment  due  to  past  sins,  and 
often  restores  the  body  to  health.  When  on. the  con- 
fines of  life,  and  about  to  pasfl  the  abyss  which  sepa- 
rates the  world  of  time  from  that  of  eternity,  what  a 
consolation  to  have  such  aids,  as  this  sacrament  affords! 

Of  the  Minister  vf  Extreme  Unction. 

It  is  a  doctrine  of  faith,  taught  by  the  fathers  and 
councils,  that  only  priests  validly  ordained,  and  bishi 
can  administer  tins  sacrament.  The  Council  of  Trent, 
referring  to  the  text  of  St.  James,  says:  "It  is  theie 
Bhowi^  that  the  proper  ministers  of.  this  sacrament  are 
the  Presbyters  of  the  church)  by  which  name  are  to 
be  understood,  in  that  place,  not  the  elders  by  age,  or 
the  foremost  in  dignity  amongst  the  people,  but  either 
bishops,  or  priests  by  bishops  rightly  ordained  by  the 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  the'  Priesthood."*  In  can- 
on IV.  on  Extreme  Unction,  it  pronounces  anathema 
on  those  who  deny  that  only  priests  ordained  by  bish- 
ops, or  bishops  are  the  proper  ministers  of  this  sacra- 
ment. Although  any  priest  validly  ordained  can  ad- 
minister this  sacrament  validly,  yet,  by  decree  of  the 
church,  he  cannot  do  so  lawfully  unless  he  have  juris- 
diction, or  is  deputed  by  one  who  has  thfs  power.  St. 
James  says  :  "  Bring  in  the  priests  of  the  church,"  but 
tie  word  Presbuterous  signifying  priests,  is  ambiguous, 
and  may  mean  elders  in  age  or  dignity,  and  so  is  trans- 
lated by  opponents  of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  that  it  may 

*  Suss.  XIV.,  Ck.  III. 


240  OF   EXTREME   UNCTION. 

favor  their  repudiation  of  this  sacrament.  But  in  the 
New  Testament  it  is  used  to  signify  the  ministers  of  re- 
ligion or  priests,  and  so  is  understood  by  the  fathers 
and  by  the  church.  St.  Paul  tells  Timothy  not  to 
neglect-  the  grace  which  was  given  to  him  "with 
the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  priesthood"  PreS' 
buteriou,  meaning  presbyters  who  had  themselves  re- 
ceived ordination  "with  the  imposition  of  hands,"  or 
priests.  Timothy  was  not  an  elder,  but  very  young : 
"  Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth,"  but  he  was  ordained 
priest  and  bishop,  and  had  authority  over  those  of  more  • 
advanced  age.  It  is  of  such,  who  had  been  ordained 
by  the  imposition  of  hands,  that  St.  James  speaks,  and' 
not  of  mere  lay;elders. 

His  words,  call  in  "the  priests,"  have  given  some  the 
thought  to  objeot  against  the  practice  of  the  church  in 
allowing  this  sacrament  to  be  administered  by  one  priest 
only.  Among  the  Greeks,  the  custom  is  found  of  call- 
ing seven, priests  to  anoint  a  sick  person,  and  they  say 
that  they  intend  a  mystery  in  this  number.  This  is  a 
matter  pertaining  to  use  and  discipline,  but  to  the  va- 
lidity of  the  sacrament,  one  priest  administering  it  is 
sufficient,  as  maintained  by  the  Catholic  church  in  hor 
teaching  and  practice.  The  words  of  St.  James,  call 
in  "the  priests,"  are  not  to  be  understood  of  the  num- 
ber, although  he  uses  the*  plural,  but  of  the  quality  of 
the  persons  to  be  called.  He  does  not  mean  to  say  that 
numbers  of  priests  must  be  called  to  each  sick  person, 
but  that  for  sick  persons  priests  are*  to  be  called.  As 
if  he  said:  "When  any  one  is  sick,  call  any  of  the 
priests  of  the  church,"  just  as  in  saying,  confess  your 
sins  to  the  priests,  we  would  not  mean  that  ea«h  person 
should  confess  to  many  priests,  but  each  confess  to  a 
priest. 

Of  its  Subject,  or  of  those  to  Receive  it. 

The  "subject  of  this  sacrament  or  the  person  to  receive 
it,  is,  first  a  Christian,  or  baptized  person,  for,  writing 
to  Christians,  the  Apostle  says:  is  any  one  "among 


i 


OF  EXTREME   UNCTION.  241 

f/ott.''  2d.  A  sick  person,  as  is  clear  from  his  words, 
"-is  any  one  sick,"  and  he  means  a  person  grievously 
or  seriously  sick,  as  the  church  teaches  that  it  "is  to.  be 
given  to  those  who  are  sick  and  whose  death  is  feared. 
Hence,  it  is  called  the  sacrament  of  the  dying.  But 
not  every  one  about  to  dio  can  receive.it,  but  only  those 
about  to  die  from  sickness  or  disease.  A  person  mighl 
receive  a  fa*tal  wound,  which,  not  taking  life  immediate- 
ly, would  produce  a  sickness  unto  death,  and  make  him 
capable  to  receive  this  sacrament.  But  the  healthy 
about  to  die  from  battle,  or  under  judicial  sentence,  arc 
not  capable  of  it.  Those  who  are  dying  from  old  ago, 
are  dying  from  a  general  decay  and  malady,  and  are  re- 
puted among  the  sick. 

3d.  It  must  bo  an  adult  person ;  or  one  who  has  the 
uso  of  reason  and  is  capable  of  sin.  Infants  therefore 
and  perpetual  idiots'are  not  capable  of  receiving  this 
sacrament. 

4th.  As  taught  by  Innocent  I,  the  excommunicated 
are  not  to  receive  it  unless  absolved  from  their  excom- 
munication, nor  sinners  before  receiving  the  sacrament 
of  Penance,  if  able  to  make  their  confession.  Neither 
are  those  who  have  been  or  are  still  living  publicly  in. 
sin,  unless  willing  to  repair  the  scandal  they  give. 

5th.  It  ought  not  to  be  conferred  on  those,  who 
neither  by  expressed,  nor  by  tacit  and  legitimately  pre- 
sumed intention,  consent  to  receive  it. 

Extreme  Unction  is  not  repeated  for  a  person  who 
remains  in  peril  from  the  same  sickness,  but  if  he  re- 
covers his  health,  and  is  again  brought  into  a  similar 
danger  of  death,  he  can  again  be  aided  by  this  sacra- 
ment. 

Of  the  Necessity  of  Extreme  Unction. 

This  sacrament  is  not  of  what  is  termed  absolute  ne- 
cessity, or  necessary  as  an  indispensable  means  of  sal- 
vation, but  it  is  necessary  by  a  divine  precept  for  all 
who  find  themselves  dangerously  sick.  The  injunction 
of  the  Apostle  is  to  be  thus  understood.  The  Council  • 
11 


242  OF   HOLY   ORDEX, 

ofr  Trent  represents  this  sacrament  as  "  having  a  com- 
mand' from  God,"  and  that  it  cannot  be  contemned 
"  without  a  heinous  sin,  and  an  injury  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  Himself."*  A  person,  who  thought  little  of  this 
salutary  remedy,  and  cared  not  to  receive  it  when  in 
dafiger  of  death  from  sickness,  would  show  the  worst 
dispositions,  and  a  want  of  proper  faith.  By  this  sac- 
rament,- many  souls  have  been  saved  who  otherwise 
would  have  been  forever  lost.f 

From  this  exposition,  it  must  appear  how  foolish 
those  persons  are,  who,  being  sick,  dread  to  receive  this 
sacrament  lest  they  may  die  the  sooner,  and  defer  re- 
ceiving it  as  long  as  they  can,  thus  exposing  themselves 
to  miss  it  altogether,  />r  to  receive  it  in  a  state  of  un- 
consciousness, when  they  cannot,  in  union  with  the 
priest  while  he  anoints  the  different  senses,  feel  and  ex- 
press their  sorrow  for  the  sins  which  they  have  com- 
mitted through  their  agency.  Persons  wise  unto  salva- 
tion, when  in'  peril  from  sickness,  will  hasten  to  have 
the  aid  of  whatever  sacraments  have  been  provided  for 
Christians  in  such  circumstances,  and  not  run  a  risk  of 
the  loss  of  their  soul,  from  a  vain  fear  that  they  will 
die  any  the  sooner  by  being  prepared  for  death, 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

OF   THE   SACRAMENT   OF   HOLY    ORDER — ORDER   EMBRA- 
CES   DIFFERENT   DEGREES — IT  IS  A  TRUE  SACRAMENT 

OF  DEACONS OF  PRIESTS — OF  BISHOPS — THE  FOUR 

MINOR  ORDERS,  VIZ:  OF  PORTER,  LECTOR,  EXORCIST, 
ACOLYTE — THE  FIRST  TONSURE — OF  THE  MATTER 
AND  FORM— OF  THE  EFFECTS,  1ST.  GRACE,  2d.  THE 
CHARACTER — OF  THE  MINISTER — OF  THE  SUBJECT 
AND  THE  CONDITIONS  REQUIRED  IN  THE   SUBJECT. 

The  five  sacraments  which  we  have  already  consider- 

"~  *  Co'unc.  Trent,  Sess.  XIV    L  h.  III.        t  St.  Ch.  Bor.  Act.  Mediof. 
Ecc.  P.  I,  p.  449. 


OF   HOLT  ORDER.  24o 

ed,  are  of  special  interest  to  individuals,  and  meet  their 
wants  in  the  work  of  their  salvation  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave,  providing  them  with  graces  to  enable  them 
to  live  and  die  holily,  while,  in   their  influences  upon 
individuals,  they  contribute  to  the  good  of  society  also, 
but  for  the  administration  of  them,  it  is  Necessary  that 
there  should  be  selected  persons  qualified  to  discharge 
such  sacred  functions,  in  an  effective  and  proper  manner. 
These  persons  must  have  the  character  of  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and,  with  ft,  the  powers  to  perform  these 
functions,  and  the  grace  to  do  so  in  a  way  worthy  and 
becoming.     Though  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  do 
not  depend  upon  the  moral  worth  of  the  minister,  they 
however  require  a  duly  empowered  minister,  and  it  is 
fit  and  proper  that  such  minister  should  be  holy  through 
the  aid  of  divine  grace,  as  he  has  to  dispense  to  others 
the  means  of  grace  and  holiness.     Our  Saviour,  in  the 
interest  of  all  men,  for  whom  he  died,  and  to- whom  ho 
came  to  offer  the  means  of  salvation,  chose,  appointed, 
and  empowered  his  first  ministers  and  the  dispensers  of 
his  mysteries,  he  ordained  them  for  this  work,  and  gave 
them  gifts  and  graces,  which  fitted  them  to  discharge 
"their  sacred  functions  worthily  and  fruitfully.     lie  fully 
instructed  them  how  they  were  to  prepare  others  to  sup- 
ply their  places,  and  how  these  their  successors  in  so  sa- 
cred a  ministry,  should  be  fitted  for  their  holy  office. 
Where  such  great  powers  were  to  be  conferred,  and  such 
holy  duties  to  be  performed,  there  was  evident  need  of 
a  sacred  rite  for  setting  apart  and  distinguishing  the 
persons  selected,  and  need  also  of  divine  graces  corres- 
ponding to  their  high  vocation.     Hence,  the  institution 
of  the  sacrament  of  Holy  Order.     As  it  is  designed  for 
calling  certain  men  to  share  in  the  eternal  priesthood 
of  Christ,  and  making  them  the. visible  representatives 
of  his  invisible  ministrations,  it  is  like  the  fountain, 
from  which  are  to  llow  the  other  channels'  of  grace  for 
healing,   purifying,    elevating,  and  adorning  our  poor 
weak  nature,  and  fitting  it  for  the  glory  of  immortality. 
*St.  Ignatius,  who  lived  in  the  first  age  of  the  church, 
beautifully  expressed  this  when  he  said:  "The  priest- 


244  OF  HOLY  ORP1TC. 

hood  or  priestly  Office,  is  the  apex  or  summit  of  all  the 
good  things  that  are  among  men."*  The  whole  super- 
natural society  of  regenerated  men  is  vivified  and  sus- 
tained by  the  sacraments,  dispensed  by  the  priests,  who 
owe -their  character,  powers,  and  fitness  to  the  sacra- 
ment of  Holy.  Order.  This  society  is  taught,  assisted, 
maintained  and  governed,  by  those  who  have  been  seal- 
ed by  this  sacrament.  And  although  like  the  other 
sacraments,  it  has  its  proper  grace  to  aug'ment  the 
sanctity  of.  the  individual  whc*eceives  it,  it  hay  a  wider 
and  more  social  range  in  bestowing  upon  him  powers 
and  graces  for  the  benefit -of  tho  whole  Christian  socie- 
ty, making  him  the  authorized  agent  of  Jt sus  Christ 
for  distributing  spiritual  goods  and  gifts  to  enrich  and 
sanctify  the  souls  of  the  members,  and,  ou  their  behalf 
and,  as  representing  Christ  their  divine  head  and  the 
mediator  between  God  and  men,  to  stand  publicly  at 
the  altars  of  God,  as  priests  to  offer  up  "the  clean  ob- 
lation" which  God  indicated  by  his  prophet  as  the  evi- 
dence of  his  greatness  and  glory  among  the  Gentiles,  or 
the  nations  of  the  earth. | 

The  hierarchy  which  existed  under  the  ancient  law 
was  a  figure  of  a  more  noble  hierarchy  under  the  new 
law.  The  ancient  priesthood  was  transferred  wk.h  the 
law,  and  a  new  priesthood  established.  A  body  of  min- 
isters charged  with  all  that  belongs  to  divine  worship, 
or  a  hierarchy,  for  the  government  of  the  Christian  so- 
ciety, having  different  orders  pertaining  to  the  priest- 
hood, was  constituted  in  the  church.  That,  in  the 
church,  there  is  such  a  hierarchy  is  a  doctrine  of  faith. 
The  Council  of  Trent  declares  anathema  against  "any 
one  who  saith,  that  in  the  Catholic  church  there  is  not 
a  hierarcy  by  divine  ordination  instituted,  consisting  of 
bishops,  priests  and  ministers  ;"  and  against  '"any  who 
eaith,  that  there  is  not  in  the  New  Testament  a  visible  . 
and  external  priesthood  ;  or  that  there  is  not  any  power  . 
of  consecrating  and  offering  the  true  body  and  blood  of 

• 

*  Sacerdotium  esfcapex  bonorum  omnium  quae  sunt  in  homini- 
tas.     Ep.  10  ad  Siiiyrnas.       f  Malacliy  i :  11. 


OF   HOLY    ORDER. 


\ 


the  Lord,  and  of  forgiving  and  retaining  sins  ;  but  only 
an  office  and  bare  ministry  of  preaching  the  gospel ;  or 
that  those  who  do  not  preach  are  not  priests  at  all.* 

The  Holy  Scriptures  express  this  doctrine.  St.  Taul 
says:  "Now  you  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  members 
of  member.  And  God  indeed  hath  set  some  in  the 
church  first  apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly  do<>- 
kc.  Are  all  apostles?  Are  all  prophets?  Are  all 
doctors?"!  "And  he  gave  some  apostles,  and  some 
prophets,  and  other  some  evangelists,  and  other  some 
pastors  and  doctors,  for  the.  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  .the  edifying  of  the 
body  of  Christ."};  For  the  service  of  "the  body  of 
Christ,"  in  its  relation  to  man's  salvation,  both  for  that 
body  which  was  "  fitted  to  him"  -for  the  sacrifice,  and 
for  his  mystic  "body  which  is  the  church,"  was  this  hi- 
erarchy constituted  with  its  different  degrees  of  order. 
And  the  sacred  functions  may  be  said  to  be  four,  two 
of  which  regard  the  natural  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  viz : 
The  offering  of  the  holy  sacrifice  of  mass,  and  the  ser- 
vice of  the  altar ;  and  two,  his  mystic  body,  or  the 
members  of  his  church,  viz:  The  instruction  of  the 
people,  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments. 

Before  proceeding  further,  we  may  remark  the  dis- 
tinction that  exists  between  order  and  ordination.  Or- 
der signifies  a  certain  relation  between  things;  and 
when  applied  to  men,  it  indicates  superior  and  inferior 
relations  between  them.  •  It  is  used  to  designate  classes 
of  persons  constituted  in  degrees.  When  taken  for  the 
act  by  which  a  person  is  constituted  in  any  particular 
degree,  it  is  called  ordination,  Order  is  something  fix- 
ed and.  permanent,  and  we  speak  of  persons  as  belong- 
ing to  an  order,  and  say  he  can  exercise  such  order,  or 
perform  the  functions  pertaining  to  the  order.  But  or- 
dination is  a  transient  action  of  the  person  who  confers 
the.  Order  that  he  may  aggregate  another  or  qualify 
Eim.     In  religion,  it  is  a  benediction  or  consecration  of 

*  Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  XXIII.     Canons  ou  Sacrament  of  Order. 
f  1  Cor.  xii:  28.    .  %  Ephes.  it:. 11,  12. 


246  OF   HOLY   ORDER. 

any  one  by  means  of  prescribed  words  and  ceremonies. 
As  ordination  is  the  placing  of  a  person  in  some  order 
of  ministers,  and  making  him  fit  to  perform  the  offices 
or  functions  of  the  order,  the  term  order  was  at  length 
applied  to  designate  this  inaugurating  act  itself. 

Holy  Order  is  a  Sacrament. 

Throughout  the  history  of  the  church,  down  to  tho 
time  of  the  Waldenses,  no  one  arose  to  deny  that  the 
rite,  for  ordaining  the  ministers  of  God,  or  of  Holy  Or- 
der, is  a,,  true  sacrament  of  the  new  law.  That  it  is  a 
true  sacrament  is  a  doctrine  of  faith,  and  the  Council 
of  Trent  pronounces  anathema  on  any  one  "  who  says 
that  order,  or  sacred  ordination,  is  not  truly  and  prop- 
erly a  sacrament  instituted  by  Christ  the  Lord;  or  that 
it  is  a  kind  of  human  figment  devised  by  men  unskilled 
in  ecclesiastical  matters ;  or  that  it  is  only  a  kind  of 
rite  for  choosing  ministers  of  the  word  of  God  and  of 
the  sacraments."* 

Holy  Order  may  be  thus  defined :  It  is  a  sacrament 
of  the  New  Law,  by  which  spiritual  power  and  grace 
are  given  to  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  rightly 
discharging  the  offices  or  functions  of  religion,  which 
concern  the  worship  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

It  is  proved  to  be  a  sacrament  because  it  has  all  that 
can  be  required  for  a  sacrament,  viz  :.  An  external  rite, 
the  promise  and  bestowal  of  grace,  and  the  command 
of  God,  or  divine  institution.  ' 

The  imposition  of  hands  by  the  bishop,  the  accom- 
panying prayer,  and  other  exterior  words  and  signs, 
constitute  an  external  sensible  sign  or  rite.  By  this 
rite  grace  is  conferred  and  the  power  to  perform  eccle- 
siastical functions,  such  as  offering  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  administering  the  sacraments,  forgiving  and  re- 
taining sins,  and  the  various  acts  of  the  ministry.  And 
this  by  God's  arrangement  and  command,  because  only 
the  divine  power  could  enable  an  external  rite,  with  tho 


*  Counc.  Trent,  Ses*.  XXIII3  Can".  IV. 


OF   HOLY   ORDER.  247 

accompanying  words,   to   bestow  grace,  which  is   his 

sift- 

The  divine  Scriptures  show  us  this  rite  with  the  at- 
tendant grace,  and  remove  all  reason  for  objection  or 
doubt  on  this  subject,  which  we  ought  to  believe,  even 
were  it  not  seen  in  Scriptures,  as  we  have  to  receive 
other  things,  on  the  testimony  of  the  church,  because 
she  was  commissioned  to  teach  the  truths  of  religion 
with  the  co-operation  of  Christ,  and  with  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  We  read  in  Acts,  ch.  vi :  6,  in  regard  to 
the  ordination  of  the  deacons  who  are  there  named : 
"  These  they  set  before  the  Apostles ;  and  they  pray- 
ing imposed  hands  upon  them."  Again  we  see  the  or- 
dination of  Saul  and  Barnabas  in  Acts,  ch.  xiii :  2, 
"  And  as  they  were  ministeVing  to  the  Lord  and  fasting, 
the  Holy  Ghost  said  to  them :  separate  me  Saul  and 
Barnabas  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  taken  them. 
Then  they,  fasting,  and  praying,  and  imposing  hands 
upon  them,  sent  them  away."  This  preparation  of  Saul 
and  Barnabas  was  done  under  the  direction  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  done  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands. 
It  was  undoubtedly  the  moans  appointed  by  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  in  giving  instruction  to  his  Apostles,  could 
not  have  failed,  upon  this  most  important  of  all  mat- 
ters, to  indicate  clearly  how  they  were  to  fit  the  persons 
for  it  whom  they  should  call  to  aid  them  in  the  minis- 
try. Their  practice  is  evidence  of  his  instructions  and 
command.  They  knew  that  this  rite  conferred  the 
power  and  grace  necessary  for  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
The  apostle,  whose'  ordination  we  have  seen,  Saul,  bet- 
ter known  as  St.  Paul,  writes,  to  Timothy,  whom  he  had 
himself  ordained:  "Neglect  not  the  grace  that  is  in 
thee,  which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy,  with  imposi- 
tion of  the  hands  of  the  priesthood."*  tCo  the  same 
Timothy  he  gives  this  injunction :  "Impose  not  hands 
lightly  on  any  man,  neither  be  partaker  of  other  men's 
sins."  f  And  again :'  "  For  which,  cause  I  admonish  thee, 
that  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God  which  is  in  thee  by  the 


*  1  Tim.  iv  :  14.      f  1  Tim.  v 


248  OF  HOLY  ORDER. 

imposition  of  roy  hands."*  In  these  texts  we  observe 
that  the  grace  of  God  is  attached  to  this  rite  of  ordi- 
nation by  the  imposition  of  hands.  And  the  Apostle 
shows  that  he  does  not  speak  of  the  grace  given  merely 
for  others,  or  the  power  of  miracles,  but  of  sanctifying 
grace,  since  he  says  to  Timothy:  "For  God  hath  not 
given  us  the  spirit  of  fear ;  but  of  power,  and  of  love, 
and  of  sobriety,"f  and,  therefore,  grace  which  sanc- 
tifies. 

•  It  will  be  no  fair  objection  to  say  that  the  apostles 
used  the  imposition  of  hands  to  cure  the  sick,  as  may  bo 
seen  in  Mark  xvi:  "They,  shall  lay  hands,  on  the  sick, 
and  they  shall  recover,"  and,  consequently,  that  impo- 
sition of  hands  is  not  a  sacrament.  Every  imposition 
of  hands  is  not  a  sacrament,  nor  is  every  ablution  with 
water  a  sacrament.*  But  an  imposition  of  hands  for 
ordaining  a  person  to  the  ministry,  and  which  bestows 
grace,  is  .a  sacrament,  as  an  ablution  with  water  and 
the  word  for  baptism  is  also  a  sacrament.  When  St. 
Paul  imposed  hands  on  Timothy  and  conferred  the 
grace  which  he  calls  upon  him  to  excite  within  him,  h*e 
performed  a  sacramental  rite.  Jesus  Christ  had  the 
power  to  attach,  to  the  imposition  of  hands  by  his  min- 
ister, the  grace  of  a  sacrament,  as  well  as  to  give  to  it 
the  power  of  curing  the  sick.  If  then  the  people  be- 
held the  sick,  cured  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  when 
this  was  done  expressly  to  cure  thg  sick,  they  would 
readily  infer  that  when  a  eimilar  imposition  of.  hands 
was  made  in  order  expressly  to  ordain  a  person  to  the 
ministry  and  to  give  him  sacramental  grace,  the  effect, 
though  invisible,  would  follow  as  certainly,  as  in  the 
other  case  the  sick  were  visibly  cured.  The  one  impo- 
sition of  hands,  for  its  express  purpose  having  its  de- 
signed effect, "would  be  a  guarantee  that  the  other  im- 
position of  hands  for  a  higher  purpose,  but  for  produ- 
cing an  unseen  result,  would  also  produce  the  effect  in- 
tended- The  Scriptures  show  that  the  Apostles  ordain- 
ed deacons,  priests,  and  bishops   by  the  imposition  of 


*  2  Tim.  i :  6.      f  Ibid,  i :  7. 


OF   HOLY   ORDER.  -  249 


hands  -  and  prayer,  conferring  by  this  rite  spiritual 
power  and  grace,  and  they  could  only  have  done  this 
according  to'  the  commaiul  and  instruction  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  had  himself  appointed  and  ordained  them. 
"The  church,"  says  Tertullian,  "received  from  the 
apostles,  the  apostles  from  Christ,  and  Christ  from 
God."*  The  Scriptures  then  manifest  that  Odor  is  a 
true  sacrament.  The  testimony  of  early  fathers*  and 
councils  arc  numerous  to  show  that  this  has  always  been 
a  received  doctrine  of  faith.  St.  Ignatius,  bishop  of 
Antioch  and  martyr,  Tertullian,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa, 
St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Leo,  St.  Ambrose,  St. 
Augustine,  the  fathers  of  the  general  council  of  Chal- 
cedon,  in  451,  Pope  Anastasius  II,  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  and  many  others,  might  be  Cited,  if  necessary. 
But  the  faith  and  general  practice,  both  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek  church,  is  so-  clear  as  to  this  tenet,  that  it  is 
needless  to  dwell  upon  it  longer. 

t 

Holy  Order  embraces  Different  Degrees. 

The  term  order  implies  degrees,  and,  as  used  to  de- 
signate the  sacrament  in  question,  it  includes  several  de- 
grees, wliich  arc  usually  reekoned  seven  in  number,  in 
the  Catholic  church.  Three  of  these  are  called  sacred 
or  greater  orders,  and  four  are  termed-  minor  orders. 
In  the  ascending  scale  they  arc  thus  named  :  Porter,  or 
Doorkeeper,  Lector  or  Reader,  Exorcist,  Acolyte,  Siib- 
deacon,  Deacon,  and  Priest.  The  last  named  is  the 
summit  of  the  scale,  to  which  the  others  tend,  and  for 
the  dignity  and  service*  of  which  they  have  been  insti- 
tuted. But  the  last  named,  while  its  genus  is  one,  con- 
tains two  species,  distinct  indeed,  the  one  superior  to 
the- other;  but  the  superior  containing  all  that  belongs 
to  the  inferior  rank  ;  these  are  the  distinct  ranks  in  the 
hierarchy,  of  bishops  and  of  priests,  who  with  the  dea- 
cons properly,  form  the  hierarchy,  and  are  the  three 
classes  of  sacred  officers  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures, 

*  Tertul.  De  praescript,  Cap.  xxi. 


250  OP   HOLY   ORDER. 

as  constituted  over  the  members  of  the  church,  for 
■watching  over  them,  ministering  to  them,  and  serving 
them.  The  definition  of  the  church  that  there  are 
seven  sacraments,  with  their  specific  names,  ^establishes 
the  doctrine  that  Holy  Order,  however  numerous  its 
degrees,  is  but  one  sacrament.  And  while  the  church 
has  not  defined,  that  in  Holy  Order  there  are  only 
seven  degrees,  or  that  the  priesthood  might  not  be 
reached  by  fewer  degrees,  as  appears  to  be  the  case 
•with  the  Greeks,  "who-  only  recognize  four,  yet  from  a 
very  early  period,  we  find  the  orders  as  now  numbered 
•  •with  us,  given  by  writers  and  doctors,  and  these  seven 
are  mentioned  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  as  having  been 
in  use  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  church  with  their 
appropriate  names  and  ministrations.  *  The  council 
gives  the  reason  why  these  degrees  exist,  saying : 
41  Whereas  the  ministry  of  so  holy  a  priesthood  is  a  di-# 
vine  thing ;  to  the  end  it  might  be  exercised  in  a  more 
•worthy  manner,  and  \vith  greater  veneration,  it  was 
suitable  that,  in  the  most  well  ordered  settlement  of  the 
church,  there  should  be  several  and  diverse  orders  of 
ministers,  to  minister  to  the  priesthood,  by  virtue  of 
their  oflice'"t  These  orders  are  not  of  equal  rank,' 
and  are  divided  into  greater  and  minor  orders,  as  de- 
fined in  canon  ii.  of  this  counoil.  Sub-deaconship  is 
put  last  in  the  class  of  the  greater  or  sacred  orders, 
although  not  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures,  it  being  the 
more  common  opinion  that  this  order,  with  the  four 
.minor  orders,  were  instituted  by  the  church.  But  be- 
cause of  the  obligation  of  celibacy,  of  the  obligation 
to  recite  the  Breviary,  or  the*divine  office,  and  of  the 
more  close  relation  in  which  this  minister  stands  to  the 
functions  of  the  altar  and  sacrifice,  his  order,  with  ap- 
parently good  reasons,  is  by  some  regarded  as  having 
the  sacramental  value,  since  he  would  appear  to  need 
sacramental  grace  for  the  proper  fulfilment  of  his  sacred 
duties. 

However,  -with  respect  to  sub-deaconship,   and  the 


•  Ses£.  xxiii :  c'bap.  11.     f  Ibid.  cli.  11. 


OF    nOLY   ORDER.  251 


four  minor  orders,  it  is  disputed  among  theologians 
whether  or  not  they  have  the  value  of  a  sacrament. 
Many  theologians  think  they  are  not  sacraments.  But 
the  opinion  which  considers  these  as  flowing  by  lawful 
development,  as  needed  by  the  wants  of  the  church, 
from  the  deaconship,  which  was  instituted  under  divine 
direction,  and  as  being  parts  thereof,  and  therefore  in 
some  manner  partaking  of  its  sacramental  value,  seems 
to  be  in  harmony  with  the  sacredness  of  the  offices, 
and  sufficiently  probable.  The  probability  of  their  be- 
ing sacramental  is»  greater,  the  nearer  such  order  is 
connected  with  the  deaconship,  which  is  its  fountain. 
The  church  has  made  no  definition  on  this  point. 

Of  the  Order  of  Deacons. 

As  to  deaconship  itself,  there  is  a  general  agreement 
amorfg  Catholic  theologians  and  doctors  that  it  is  a 
sacrament.  It  has  all  the  requisites  of  a  sacrament, 
viz :  1st.  The  external  rite,  or  imposition  of  hands  with 
prayer,. for  thus  were  the  first  seven  deacons  ordained, 
as  seen  in  the  Acts,  of  the  Apostles ;  "and  praying, 
they  imposed  hands  on  them."  2dly.  In  the  ordina- 
tion the  bishop  says:  "Receive,  the  Holy  Gliost"  &p., 
and  by  prayer  invokes  the  Holy  Ghost  for  fitting  them 
for  their  ministry,  which  would  be  useless  words,  if 
grace  be  not  thereby  conferred.  3dly.  The  Apostles 
thus  ordained  the  deacons  by  direction  from*  Christ,  as 
testified  by  one  who  lived  with  them,  St.  Clement,  pope, 
who  says:  "The  Apostles  established  bishops  and  dea- 
cons according  to  the  order  which  they  had  received 
from  Jesus  Christ."*  And  St.  Ignatius  also  of  the 
apostolic  age,  and  disciple  of  St.  John,  writes:  "Re- 
spect the  deacons  as  exercising  their  ministry  after  the 
order  of  God."f  .  1^ie  Council  of  Trent  declares  that 
the  ministers  or  deacons  belong  to  the  hierarchy  estab- 
lished by  Grod.  \ 
- * '■ — i ■ 

*  1st  Eg.   ad.  cor.   St.  Gent,       f  Ej>.   ad  Smyrn.       J  Sess.  xxiii: 
can.  vi. 


252  -  OF   HOLY   ORDER. 

Though  the  belief  that  deaconship  is  a  sacrament  is 
so  general,  that  scarcely  any  theologians  of  note,  ex- 
cept Durandus  and  Cajetan,  are  found  denying  it,  yet 
it  is  not  of 'faith,  since  the  church  has  not  expressly 
defined  it,  nor  is  it  clearly  manifest  in  "the  Scriptures, 
nor  declared  by  tradition.  Nevertheless  it  appears  cer- 
tain that  it  is  a  sacrament,  from  the  manner  in  which 
the  Scriptures  speak  of  the  first  deacons,  and  the  qual- 
ities required  in  these  ministers,  and  also  from  St.  Paul, 
in  his  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  first  chapter,  and  in 
his  first  epistle  to  Timothy,  third  chapter,  exacting  al- 
most the  same  qualities  and  the  same  virtues  of  the  dea- 
cons as  he  does  of  the  priests  or  bishops. 

Though  the  occasion  upon  which  the  Apostles  first 
chose  deacons  was  the  difficulty  of  serving  the  people 
at  the  tables,  and  these  deacons  were  appointed  to  re- 
lieve and  aid  them  in  this,  yet  this  temporal  work  was 
not  the  chief  end  of  their  ministry.  For  at  the  tiine  of 
the  repast,  it  was  then  customary  also  to  offer  the  sacrifice 
and  distribute  the  Holy  Communion,  and  the  chief  func- 
tions of  the  deacons  or  ministers  pertained  to  the  holy 
sacrifice  and  communion,  and  to  the  instruction  and  re-  ' 
ligious  conduct  of  the  people,  although  they  had  also 
charge  of  the  administration  of  the  temporal  interests 
of  the  congregations.  In  the  Scriptures,  we  find  that 
the  first  deacons  preached  the  gospel  and  conferred  bap- 
tism, as  said  of  Stephen  and  Philip  in  the  6th  and 
8th  chapters  of  th^  Acts.  The  deacons  therefore  were 
by  the  Apostles  made  sharers  in  the' work  of  the  min- 
istry, and  ordained  for  this  by  prayer  and  imposition 
of  hands,  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Apos- 
tles would  have  shared  their  ministry  with  them  with- 
out particular  instruction  and  authorization  from  Jesus 
Christ.  Hence,  we  have  seen,  that  St.  Clement  and 
St.  Ignatius,  who  lived  with  them,  declared  that  the 
Apostles  did  this  by  the  order  of  Jesus  Christ.*  St. 
Polycarp,  like  Ignatius,  a  disciple  of  St.  John  the  Apos- 
tle, says,  "Deacons  ought  to  be  blameless  as  the  minis- 


*  Ignat.  Ep.  ad  Smyrn.  et  ad  Trallian. 


OF   HOLY  ORDER.  253 

tcrs  of  Chrisf  arid  of  God,  and  not  of  men."*  The- 
same  saint  recommends  Christians  "  to  be  subject  to  the 
priests«and- deacons,  as  to  God  and  Christ."  When  the 
Council  of  Trent  declares  that  the  whole  hierarchy  was 
established  by  God,  and  that  this  hierarchy  consists  of 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  it  seems  to  us  that  the 
fathers  of  this  council  not  only  judged  that  the  order  of 
deacons  was  of  divine  institution,  but  also  that  it  was  an 
integral  part  of  the  sacrament,  which  is  termed  "sa- 
cred ordination"  or  "order."  •  To  be  order,  there  must 
be  in  it  more  .than  one  degree,  and  since  "the  council 
gives  three  degrees  for  the  hierarchy,  it  would  appear, 
to  be  also  its  sentiment,  that  these  three  degrees  at 
least  arc  portions  of  the  one  sacrament  of  order,  or 
have,  each  of  them,  the  value  of  a  sacrament  The 
deacons  arc  always  by  the  early  writers  and  fathers, 
numbered  with  the  priests  and  bishops  as  pertaining  to 
the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy.  They  rank  next  to  the 
priest,  and  besides  aiding  in  the  ministry  by  preaching 
and  baptizing,  it  is  their  office  to  'serve  the  priest  or 
bishop  when  offering  the  holy  sacrifice. 

Of  the  Priesthood. 

The  priesthood  contains  two  ranks,  which  are  species 
of  the  same  genus,  viz :  bishops  and  priests,  and,  as 
constituted  for  the  offering  t>f  sacrifice,  it  is  one  order, 
although  in  that  order,  as,  under  the  ancient  law,  with 
the  high  priest  and  the  rest  of  the  priests  serving  for 
the  sacrifices,  there  are  two  distinct  ranks. f  The 
Council  of  Trent  says:  "sacrifice  and  priesthood  are, 
by  the  ordinance  of  God,  in  such  wise  conjoined,  as 
that  both  h'ave  existed  in  every  law.  Whereas,  there- 
fore, in  the  Nejv  Testament^  the  Catholic  church  has 
received,  from  the  institution  of  Christ,  the  holy  vis- 

*Polyc.  ad  Philip.  # 

f  Philo,  ill  his  ii to  of  Moses,  counts  two  degrees  of  the  hierarchy, 
"  The  priests. and  those  who  were  occupied  in  the  service  of  the 
temple,"  but  places  the  high  priest  in  the  first  rank  and  the  others 
in  the  second. — Chardon  Hist,  ties  Saoamenls. 


254  OF   HOLY   ORDER. 

ible  sacrifice  of  the  Eucharist,  it  must  needs  also  be 
confessed,  that  there  is-  in  that  church  a  new,"visible, 
and  external  priesthood  into  which  the  old  hag,  been 
translated.  And  the  sacred  Scriptures  show,  and  the 
tradition  of  the  Catholic  church  has  always  taught  that 
this  priesthood  was  instituted  by  the  same  Lord  our  Sa- 
viour, and  that  to  the  Apostles,  and  their  successors  in 
the  priesthood,  was  the  power  delivered  of  consecrating, 
offering,  and  administering  hi^  Body  and  Blood,  as  also 
of  forgiving  and  retaining  sins."* 

Speaking  first  of  priests  of  the  second  rank,  it  is  the 
unanimous  belief  of  all  Catholics  that  the  priesthood  is 
a  sacrament.  The  Council  of  Trent  pronounces  anath- 
ema against  "any  one  who  saith,  that,  by  sacred  ordi- 
nation,"the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  given;  and  that  vainly 
therefore  do  the  bishops  say,  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  or  that  a  character  is  not  imprinted  by  .that  or- 
dination ;  or  that  he  whb  has  once  been  a  priest,  can 
again  become  a  layman,  "f 

It  is  then  of  faith,  that  the  person  who  is -ordained  a 
priest  receives  divine  grace  and  an  indelible  character 
by  the  rite  of  ordination,  and  consequently  that  this 
ordination  is  a  sacrament.  Besides,  no  one  who  admits 
that  there  is  in  the  new  law  such  a  sacrament  as  Holy 
Order,  ever  thinks  of  denying  that  it  is  found  in  the 
order  of  priests. 

Of  Bishops. 

The  pre-eminence  of  bishops  over  priests  seems  never 
to  have  been  questioned  in  the  church,  until  the  time  of 
Aerius,  who  maintained  that  bishops  and  priests  are  of 
equal  dignity  and  power,  as  we  learn  from  St.  Epipha- 
nius  and  St.  Augustine,  who,  for  this,  condemn  him  as 
a  heretic. X  During  three  centuries  and  a  half,  this  su- 
periority was  not  questioned.  No  Catholic  can  deny 
this  superiority  without  also  being  guilty  of  heresy,  for 

*  Sess.  XXIII,  Ch.  I.     f  Ibid,  Can.  IV,     %  Efripk.  Hieresi  75,  n.  3. 
St.  Aug.  deljseresi,  Cap   LI1I. 


•       OF    HOLY    ORDER.  255 

the  Council  of  Trent  pronounces  anathema  against 
"  any  one  who  saith  that  bishops  are  not  superior  to 
priests;  or  that  they  have  not  the  power  of  confirming 
and  ordaining  ;  or  that  the  power  they  possess  is  com- 
mon to  them  and -to  priests."*  It  is  then  of  faith,  that 
they  are  by  divine  institution  superior  to  priests,  and 
are  invested  with  powers  which  priests  have  not,  and 
can  perform  certain  sacred  functions,  such  as  conferring 
ordination  and  administering  confirmation,  and  perform- 
ing many  other  things' which  priests  are  not  competent 
to  do,  simply  as  priests.  For  the  Council  says  : 
"  Wherefore,  the  Holy  Synod  declares  that,  besides  the 
other  ecclesiastical  degrees,  bishops,  who  have  succeed- 
ed to  the  place  of  the  Apostles,  principally  belong  to 
this  hierarchical  order;  that  they  are  placed,  as  the 
Apostle  says,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  rule  the  church  of 
God  ;  that  they  are  superior  to  priests  ;  administer  the 
sacrament  of  confirmation;  ordain  the  ministers  of  the 
church ;  and  that  they  can  perform  very  many  other 
things;  over  which  functions  others  of .  an  inferior  or- 
der have  no  power. "f         . 

The  Council  has  declared,  that  the  hierarchy-  is-  con- 
stituted by  God,  and  that  bishops  principally  belong 
to  it,  and  therefore  are  superior  by  divine  law  to  the 
other  members  of  it,  who  are  the  priests  and  ministers, 
or  deacons. 

Throughout  the  history  of  the  church,"  we  find  that 
the  bishops  are  spoken  of  as  the  successors  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  priests  as  the  successors  of  the  sev- 
enty-two disciples.  '  The  Apostles  were  evidently  con- 
stituted by  Jesus  Christ  in  a  rank  superior  to  the  disci- 
ples. He  chose  twelve  of  the.  disciples,  to  make. them 
apostles.  He"  retained  them  with  him,  and  instructed 
them  thorough^.  To  them  he  said,  "as  my  Father 
hath  sent  me,  I  send  you."  St.  Peter  understood  the 
difference  of  rank,  when  he  proposed,  after  the  treach- 
ery of  JudaSj  to  invoke  the  Holy  Ghost  to  know  which 
of  the  disciples  should  be  selected  to  supply  his  place 

*Sess.  XXIII.  Can.  VII.     t  Ibid,  Chap.  IV. 


256'  OF   HOLY   ORDER.       . 

in  the  ministry  and  in  the  apostleship,  and  Mathias  was 
accordingly  chosen.  Had  the  disciples  been  equal  with 
the  Apostles,  there  would  have  been  no  need  of  an  ap- 
peal to  the  Holy  Ghost  to  number  Mathias  with  them. 
The  successors  of  the  Apostles  must,  therefore  be  held 
as  superior  to  the  successors  of  the  disciples,  just  as  the 
Apostles  were  superior  to  the  disciples,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Jesus  Christ.  St.  Paul  indicates  this  superi- 
ority when  he  writes  to  Timothy:  "Against  a  priest  re- 
ceive not  an  accusation,-,  but  under  two  or  three  wit- 
nesses."* To  be  thus  the  judge  of  the  priests,  the  rank 
of  Timothy  must  have  been  higher  ;  and  we  learn  from 
tradition  that  Timothy  had  been  ordained  bishop.  St. 
Paul  manifests  the  same  fact  when  writing  to  Titus,  he 
says:'  "For  this  cause  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou 
should  set  in  order  (regulate)  the  things  that  are  want- 
ing, and  shouhlst  ordain  priests  in  every  city,  as  I  also 
appointed  thee."f  Titus  was  appointed  and  ordained 
bishop,  and  had  the  authority  to  regulate  every  thing 
concerning  religion,  and  to  ordain  priests  or  even  bish- 
ops also.  The  disciples  were  accustomed  to  make  con- 
verts and  to  baptize  them,  but  the  Apostleshad  to  visit 
the  different  places  in  order  to  give  the  sacrament  of 
confirmation  to  these  new  Christians,  which  shows  that, 
while  exercising  certain  functions  of  the  ministry,.there 
were  other  functions  which  these  disciples  could  not  per- 
form in  behalf  of  their  converts.  We  may  say  that 
St.  Ignatius,  bishop  of  Anjioch,  is  among  the  'best  of 
witnesses,  as  he  lived  in  Apostolic  times,  and  he  thus 
writes  to  the  faithful  of  Magnesia :  "  The  bishop,  be- 
ing in  the  first  rank,  holds  the  place  of  God,  the  priests 
represent  the  senate  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  confided  to  the  deacons. "% 

St.  Clement,  cotemporary  with   St.  Peter,  calls  the 
bishop   "the  sovereign  priest,"  and  says  that  "he  has 
duties  peculiar  to  ^imself,  that  the  priests  also  have 
their  place  assigned,  and  the  Levites  (Deacons)  have' 
also  their  ministry."     Tertullian  calls  the  bishop  by 

*  1  Tim.  y:  19.     f  Tit.  i».  5.     J  St.  Ign.  ad  Magnesianos,  n.  6. 


OF  HOLY  ORDEK;  257 

the  same  name  of  sovereign  priest.*  "Therefore," 
writes  St.  Augustine,  "is  the  higher  place  set  for  bish- 
ops that  they  may  superintend,  and  as  it  were,  guard 
the  people,  for  what  in  Greek  is  called  Episcopos,  in 
.Latin  is  interpreted  superintendent,  because  he  super- 
intends, "f 

The  question  is  asked  by  theologians  whether  the  rite 
for  ordaining  bishops  is  a  sacrament  distinct  from  that 
of  the  priesthood,  and  doctors  of  note  are  to  be  found 
on  both  sides  of  this  question.  Some  have  maintained 
that  it  is  not  a  different  sacrament  and  docs  not  im- 
print a  peculiar  character,  but  only  confers  a  more  am- 
ple power ;  others,  of  equal  learning  and  name,  teach 
that  it  is  a  sacrament  of  the  same  genus,  but  Of  a  dis- 
tinct species,  and  besides  conferring  its  propey  power, 
imprints  a  new  character.  Again,  some  attempt  to  de- 
fend a  sort  of  middle  ground,  and  call  it  an  extension 
of  .the  order  of  priesthood,  which  is  in' the  priests  in  a 
more  limited  manner,  and  in  bishops  in  its  plenitude, 
and  that  the  characters,  a/e  not  fully  distinct,  nor  yet 
one  and  the  same,  but  having  the  difference  that  exists 
between  the  inchoate  and  the  perfect.  It  appears'to  be 
the  more  commonly  received  teaching,  with  Bellarmine, 
and  all  more  recent  theologians,  that  the  ordination  of 
bishops  is  a  sacrament  distinct  from  the  priesthood. 
Bellarmine  declares  that  this  is  asserted  by  all  the  an- 
cient fathers,  and  most  of.  the  canonists,  and  to  him  ap- 
pears to  be  most  certain.  In  this  ordination  are  found 
all  the  requisites  of  a  sacrayient,  the  external  rite,  the 
bestowal  of.  grace,  and  divine  institution.  As  the  Apos- 
tles, ordained  by  Jesus  Christ,  were  bishops,'  so  did  they 
ordain  as  bishops,  Timothy,  Titus,  and  many  others 
whom  they  placed  over  the  different  churches.  The 
passages  of  Scripture,  which  refer  to  ordination  by  the 
imposition  of  hands,  mostly  refer  to  the  ordination  of 
bishops,  and  hence  if  those  texts  prove  a  sacrament  of 
Order,  as  we  must  admit,  they  are  also  a  proof  that 
episcopal  ordination  is  a  sacrament.     And  it  also  im» 

*  Tert.  lib.  de  Bapt.  c.  xvii.      t  Aug.  in  Fsalm  exxvi. 


258  OF   HOLY   OBDER.    " 

prints  a  character,  since  it  is  never  reiterated,  and  the 
character  endures  like  that  of  the  priest,  and  it  makes 
the  person  fit  to  perform  functions  such  as  confer- 
ring sacred  orders,  and  confirmation,  which  would  be 
null  if  performed  by  one  "who  had  not  been  ordained 
bishop.  Therefore,  a  bishop  receives  his  character  as* 
such,  and  special  spiritual  powers  from  his  ordination. 
As  the  bishop  has  to  administer  two  sacraments,  besides 
those  entrusted  to  the  priests,  and  has  a  high  responsi- 
bility and  important  duties  peculiar  to  his  office,  it 
would  seem  that  he  needs  also  a  special  sacramental 
grace  to  enable  him  worthily  to  perform  the  functions 
of  his  office.  Moreover,  the  inauguration  of  the  bish- 
op, or  his  ordination,  takes  place  with  most  solemn  and 
significant  ceremonies,  and  his  rank  m  granted  to  him 
with  imposition  of  hands  and  invocation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  just  as  the  dcaconship  and  priesthood  are  con-* 
ferred,  and  as  these  are  held  to  be  sacraments,  so  should 
his  ordination  also  be  held  to  be  a  sacrament.  Order 
being  a  sacrament,  and  requiring  degrees,  each  of  which 
is  sacramental,  and  there  beiif|;  three  degrees  in  the  hi- 
erarchy as  defined  by  the  church,  it  must  be  that  the 
principal  of  those  three  is  a  sacrament,  as  well  as  the' 
two  others. 

Nor  will  it  be  a  fair  objection  to  say,  that  if  episco- 
pacy be  admitted  to  be  a  sacrament,  it  would  be  nece- 
s.iry  to  hold  Orders  as  eight  in  number,  instead  of  seven, 
since  we  have  already  seen  that  the  order  of  the  priest- 
hood is  but  one  as  to  its  genus,  but  has  in  it  two  classes 
of  priests,  or  two  species.'  As  Bellarmine  replies  to 
this  objection,  we  give  his  answer:  "Orders  are  taken 
from  their  relation  to  the  Eucharist,  aud  since  the  high- 
est power  concerning  the  Eucharist  is  that  of  consecra- 
ting or  making  it,  therefore  the  first  order  is  the  sacer- 
dotal, that  is  the  order  of  those  who  can  consecrate  the 
Eucharist ;  nor  can  any  order  superior  to  this  or  great' 
er  be  imagined.  However,  because  bisttops  and  priests 
partake  of  this  power  in  a  different  manner,  there  are 
thence  two  species  of  priests.  Priests,  in  consecrating  - 
the  Eucharist,  at  least  as  to  the  use  of  their  power,  de- 


OF  HOLY   ORDER.  250 

pend  on  the  bishops  who  can  interdict  them  from  con- 
secrating, or  suspend  them  for  a  time,  or  command 
them  to  celebrate  in  such  a  place,  in  such  a  manner,  at 
such  a  time.  Moreover,  priests  do  not  so.  possess  this 
power  that  they  can  communicate  it  to  others  ;  but  bish- 
ops both  have  it,  and  can  communicate  it  to  others."* 
As  the  person,  who  is  ordained  bishop?  must  of  ne- 
cessity have  first  been  ordained  priest,  he  will  have  the 
character  of  bishop  in  addition  to  that  of  priest,  and  if 
in  this  his  character  maybe  said  to  be  greater,  it  is  only 
because  it  gives  him  a  power  extending  to  other  things, 
above  what  he  has  from  his  character  of  priest.  But 
the  character  itself,  given  in  episcopal  ordination,  when 
compared  with  the  character  before  given  to  him  as 
priest  is  not  greater,  since  it  is  admitted  that  the  char- 
acter or  quality  of  priest  as  a  power  to  consecrate  tho 
Eucharist  is  in  itself  the  greatest  and  most  .excellent 
that  can  be  conferred.  .The  superiority  of  the  bishop - 
arises  from  his  having  this  latter,  and,  in  addition  to 
it,  the  character  and  power  for  other  things  conferred 
by  episcopal  ordination. 

Of  the  First  Tonsure,  and  of  the  Four  Minor  Orders, 
or  the  Four  Degrees  which  conduct  to  the  Sacred  or 
G-r eater  Orders. 

The  candidate  for  the  priesthood  is  initiated  into  tho 
ranks  of  the  clergy  by  a  ceremony,  which'  is  called  tho 
First  Tonsure.  .  It  is  thus  named," because  it  is  the  first 
cutting  of  the  hair,  in  the  form  of  a  crown  peculiar  to 
clerics,,  solemnly  made  by  the  bishop,  and  the  crown 
must  be  afterwards  kept  thus  cut,  as  "the  members  of  .the 
clergy  for  a  long  time,  and  nearly  every  where  were  re- 
quired thus  to  wear  it  constantly.  Most  theologians 
have  considered  this  rite  as  an  ancient,  ecclesiastical 
ceremony,  while  some  have  esteemed  it  to  be  something 
more,  and  given  to  it  an  inferior  rank  among  the  minor 
order's.     The  Council   of  Trent,  in  separating  it  from 

*  De  Sacram.  Qjd.  lib.  i.  cap.  vi. 


260  OP  HOLY    ORDER. 

tho  orders,  shows  us  that  it  is  not  to  be  reckoned  one 
of  them.  With  it,  the  bishop  gives  to  the  candidate 
the  surplice  or  ecclesiastical  dress,  to  indicate  "  the  put- 
ting off  of  the  old,  and  the  clothing  with  the  new  man," 
but  imparts  no  spiritual  powers.  It  is  a  sort  of  prepa- 
ration and  noviceship  for  orders,  in  which  persons  are 
to  strive  to  render  themselves  worthy  to  be  elevated  to 
the  rank  of.  ministers.  Hence  it  ought  to  be  conferred 
only  on  such  as  have  this  intention.  Whatever  was  the 
time  and  manner  of  its  origin,  it  is  customary  in  the 
church  for  all  who  aspire  to  orders,  .to  commence  with 
this  ceremony.  The  second  general  Council  of  Nice 
speaks  of  it  as  a  thing  received  in  the  church,  and  some 
writers  date  its  origin  in  the  times  of  the  Apostles.* 
The  tonsured  are  required  to  wear  "the  clerical  dress, 
and  to  conform  their  lives  to  the  state  to  which  they 
aspire.  They  enjoyed  also  several  of  the  privileges 
belonging-to  the  clergy  in  former,  times.  To  be  initia- 
ted with  the  tonsure,  the  church  requires  the  candidate 
to  have  already  received  confirmation,  -to  know  how  to 
read  and  write,  to  be  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  tho 
faith,  and  that  there  should  be  a  probable  hope  that  ho 
designs,  in  choosing  this  state,  to  render  to  God  faith- 
ful service. f 

The  first  of  the  minor  orders  conferred  is  that  of 
Porter ',  or  Doorkeeper.  •  The  name  explains  the  office. 
The  Porter  should  open  and  close  the  doors  of  the  tem- 
ple, exclude  those  whom  the  church  does  not  wish  to 
admit  to  be  present  at  the  worship,  kee.p  the  deposits 
made  by  the  faithful,  and  the  sacred  vestments,  &c. 
The  bishop,  in  conferring  this  order,  gives  the  "keys  to 
be  Successively  touched  by,  the  person  ordained  saying : 
"so  act  as  being  to  render  to  God  an  account  for  the  things 
which  are  kept  under  these  keys."- — Couno.  Carthage, 
IV,  Can.  9,  heldinZdS. 

The  Lector  'had  to  read  to  the  people  the  things 
which  the  bishop  was  about  to  Explain,  to  sing  the  les- 

*  St.Greg.  of  Tours,  dc  Glor.  Martyr,  lib.  i.  cap.  xxvii. 
f  Sess.  XXIII,  Ch.  IV. 


or  jioly  ohder.  261 

sons  in  the  public  office,  to  bless  the  bread  -and 'new 
fruit,  to  teach  the  catechism  to  children  and  Catechu- 
mens. The  bishop  confers  this  order  by  delivering  the 
book  from  which  the  readings  are  to  be  made,  saving:- 
"Receive,  and  be  reporters  of  God's  word,  ;f  faithful- 
ly and  usefully  you  fulfil  the  duties  of  your  office,  you 
shall  have  part  with  thoso  who,  from  the  beginning, 
have  dispensed  well  the  word  of  God." — Counc.  Carth. 
IV,  Can.  VIII  and  Pontifical. 

The  JExorcist,  as  the  name  imports,  had  to  read  the 
exorcisms  or  solemn  adjurations  of  the  church.  These 
exorcisms  are  of  three  kinds,  and  directed  against  the 
evil  spirits ;  1st,  concerning  bodies  which  the  devil  has 
possessed  ;  2d,  concerning  souls  subjected  to  the  devil's 
empire  by  sin,  and  especially  by  original  sin ;  3d,  con- 
cerning inanimate  things,  which,  evil  spirits  may  use  to 
the  injury  of  men.  1*  is  the  office  of  the  Exorcist,  1st, 
by  invocation  of m  the  name  of  God,  by  imposition  of 
hands,  and  by  the  prescribed,  exorcisms  of  the  church, 
to  expel  evil  spirits  from  the  bodies  of  the  baptized  and 
of  Catechumen^).  2d.  To  prepare  the  things  necessary 
for  the  blessing  of  the  lustra),  or  holy  water.  3d.  To  as- 
sist the  bishop  or  priest  when-performing  exorcisms.  4th. 
To  accompany  the  priest  with  the  vase  of  holy  water 
when  he  sprinkles  the  people  with  it.  In  ordaining  the 
Exorcist,  the  bishop  delivers.to  him  the  book,  in  which 
the  exorcisms  are  written,  or  the  missal  or  Pontifical, 
saying  :  "  Receive  and  commit  to  memory,  and  have 
power  to  impose  hands  upon  the  possessed,  whether 
they  be  baptized,  or  catechumens." — Counc.  Carth. 
Il\  Can.  7.  In  our  times,  exorcisms  are  reserved  to* 
the  priests,  and  even  these  cannot  use  the  first  class  of 
them,  without  special  permission  of  the  bishop,  as  nat- 
ural infirmities  might  be.  taken  for  diabolical  posses- 
sions, and  the  ceremonies  of  the  church  be  subjected  to 
the  ridicule  of  her  enemies. 

The  Acolyte  is  an  officer  appointed  to  assist  the  sub: 
deacon  and  deacon  in  the  solemnity  of  the  mass,  to 
light  and  carry  the  candles,  to  answer  at*  mass,  to  servo 
tho  wine  and  water,  &c.      The  Bishop,  id  ordaining 


262  OF   HOLY'  ORDER. 

him,  presents  him  a  candlestick  with  an  unlighted  can- 
dle in  it,  and  says:  "  Receive  the  candlestick  with  the 
candle,  that  you  may  know  you  are  to  serve  for  inflam- 
ing the  lights  of  the  church,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
He  likewise  delivers  to  him  the  plate  with  the  empty 
cruets  for  the  wine  and  water,  saying  :  "  Receive  the*  - 
little  pitcher  for  bringing  wine  and  water  for  the  Eu- 
charist of  the  blood  of  Christ,  in  the  name  ef  the 
Lord." — Counc.  Carth.  TV,  Can.  6.    • 

These   orders,  as  named,  conduct  the  candidate  to 
sub-deacojiship,    which    has   been   ranked    among   the 
greater,  or  sacred  orders  since  the  time  of  Pope  Inno-    » 
cent  III,  in  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  although, 
from  the  first  ages  of  the  church,  it.  was  also  conferred, 
but  commonly  ranked  among  the  minor  orders.     Ac- 
cording to  the  declaration  of  Pope  Eugene  IV,  in  his 
decree  to  the  Armenians,  it  is  conferred  "  by  the  deliv- 
ery to  the  candidate  of  the  vacant  chalice  covered  by 
the  patena,  likewise  vacant,  the  bishop,  saying  to  him : 
"  See  whose  ministry  is  delivered  to  you,  therefore  I 
admonish  you  that  you  so  conduct  yourself,  that  you 
•maybe   able  to   please  God,"  and   afterwards   he  says 
the  prayer  which  follows  in  the  Roman  pontifical.    The 
person  ordained  is  required  also  to  touch  the  little  cru- 
ets, filled  with  wine  and  water,  handed  to  him  by  the  " 
archdeacon  ;  then  the  book  of  the  epistles  is  presented 
to  him  by  the  bishop,  who  also  invests  him  with  the 
maniple  and  the  tunic,  saying  the  words  corresponding 
as  prescribed   in   the  pontifical.     The   touching  of  the 
cruets,  the  presenting  of  the  epistles,  and  the  vesting 
are  not  considered  to  pertain  to   the  essence  of  this  sa-  . 
cred  rite.     The  name  sub-deacon  indicates  that. he  is  to  ' 
assist  the  deacon  at  the  altar.     It  is  his  office,  to  bring 
the  chalice   to  the  altar,  and  the  wine   and  water,  of 
which  last  he  pours  a  small  portion  into  the  chalice  be- 
fore the  offertory.     He  also  chants  the  epistle;  holds 
the  patena  elevated  during  the  first  part  of  the  Lord's 
prayer  ;  carries  the  kiss  of  peace  to  the  choir ;  purifies 
and  covers  the   chalice ;  carries  the   cross  in  proces- 


OF   HOLY    ORDER.  2(53 

sions ;  and  attends  to'the  washing  of  the  purificatories 
and  corporals,  or  sacred  linens  used  for  the  sacrifice. 

It  is  required  by  the  church  th*it  those  whom  she  pro- 
motes to  the  priesthood,  should  have  received  the  first 
tonsure,  and  have  passed  through  all  these  orders,  be- 
fore receiving  the  hierarchical  orders.  To  skip  any  of 
them,  is  called  an  ordination  per  saltum.  As  they  afe 
independent,  the  order  would.be  conferred,  but  the  act 
is  irregular ;  if  a  higher  order  be  received  before  the 
lower,  the  person  is  suspended  from  the  use  of  his  or- 
der, and,  the  order  omitted  is  required  to  be  supplied 
before  he  will  be  permitted  to  act.  If  a  person  were 
ordained  bishop,  without  having  been  ordained  priest, 
his  ordination  by  theologians  is  declared  null,  as  the 
priesthood  is  indispensably  necessary  in  the  bishop, 
whether  episcopacy  be  considered  as  its  extension,  or  as 
a  distinct  sacrament.  The  church  prohibits  any  ordi- 
nation per  saltum  ;  but  some  canonists  maintain,  that 
the  laws,  imposing  suspension  and  penalties  on  those 
thus  ordained,  are  to  be  strictly  interpreted  concerning 
the  sacred  orders  only,  and.  not  extended  to  the  minor 
orders. 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas  gives  the  following  reason  for 
this  division  of  orders.  He  says:  "the  distinction  of 
orders  is  taken  trom  their  relation' to  the  Eucharist,  be- 
cause the  power  of  the  order  is  given  either  to  conse- 
crate the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  to  exercise 
some  ministry  which  regards  this  consecration.  The 
priesthood  is  established  for  this  first  function  ;  and  for 
this  it  is,  that  priests,  in  their  ordination,  receive  the 
power  to  consecrate  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  functions  of  the  other  ministers  regard  either  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  those,  who  are  to  receive  it. 
The  deacon,  sub-deacon  and  acolyte,  in  some  manner 
co-operate  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  the  dea- 
I  con  in  distributing  it,  the  sub-deacon  in  preparing,  in 
the  sacred  vases,  the  matter  which  is  to  be  changed  into 
the  body  and  bloo'd  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  acolyte  in  pre- 
paring this  matter  in  the  vessels  not  consecrated.  The 
•ther  orders  are  instituted  to  prepare  those  who  are  to 


264  OP  HOLY  ORDER. 

receive  the  Eucharist,  if  they  are  impure  .or  unclean"; 
now  persons  can  be  so  in  three  ways  ;  some-are  infidels, 
who  consequently  are  unworthy  to  assist  at  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  holy  mysteries,  and  to  be  present  in  the  as- 
sembly of  the  faithful,  and  it  is  the  office  of  the  door- 
keeper to  remove  them.  Others  are  catechumens,  who 
desire  to  be  instructed  that  they  may  render  themselves 
worthy  to  partake  of  the  sacrament  of  our  altars  ;  the 
lectors  are  established  to  dispose  them  for  this  by  their  - 
instructions.  Finally,  there  are  persons  possessed,  who 
cannot  be  admitted  to  holy  communion  ;  the  exorcists 
have  been  instituted  to  deliver  these  from  the  evil  spirit,' 
that  they  may  be  capable  to  be  received  at  the  Holy 
Table."* 

Of  the  Matter  and  Form  of  the  Sacrament  of  Order. 

In  conferring  orders,  the  pontificial  is  to  be  followed, 
which  presents  both  the  matter  and  form.  But  as  ac- 
cidental omissions,  or  such  as  might  be  made  arbitra- 
rily, may  take  place,  theologians  discuss  the  question  as 
to  what  is  the  essential  matter  and  form  of  this  sacra- 
ment, and  differ  from  each  other  about  it.  Some  con- 
sider the  imposition  of  hands  as  the  only  essential  mat- 
ter for  the  dcaconship,  priesthood,  and  episcopacy  ;  and 
the  prayer  which  accompanies  this  ceremony,  as  the 
only  sacramental  form.  Others  add  to  this  the  presen- 
tation of  the.instruments,  with  which  the  sacred  func- 
tions are  to  be  performed,  and  the  words  used  by  the 
bishop  in  presenting  them.  Some  say  that  as  this  pre- 
sentation necessarily  includes  an  imposition  of  hands, 
it  is  the  essential  .act  of  the  sacred  rite.. 

As  the  scriptures  plainly  indicate,  the  imposition  of 
hands  for  ordaining  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  and 
as  the  fathers  speak  of  the  sacrament  by  thiB  name  of 
imposition  of  hands,  it  is  certain  that  this  rite,  with 
the  prayers  or  words  corresponding,  is  essential.  In- 
deed, the  Council*  of  Trent,  declaring  who  is  the  minis- 

*  St.  Tliom.  supple.  3  par.  (j.  37,  A.  2. 


.     '  OP   HOLY   ORDER.  265 

ter  of  the  sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction,  expressly  says, 
that  it  is  "bishops,  or  priests  ordained  by  the  imposition 
of  hands."  Neither  the  scriptures,  the  councils,  nor 
the  fathers  of  the  first  ages,  refer  to  the  presentation  of 
the  instruments,  and  the  Greek  church,  whose  ordi- 
nations arc  admitted  by  the  Catholic  church,  and  in 
which  orders  are  conferred  by  the  rite  of  imposition  of 
hands,  docs  not  employ  the  presentation  of  the  instru- 
ments. Hence  those,  who  consider  the  imposition  of 
hands  and  the  corresponding  words  as  all  that  pertains 
to  the  essence,  are  most  probably  correct.  The  decree 
of  Pope  Eugene  IV.  to  the  Armenians,  mentions  the 
presentation  of  the  instruments  as  £he  matter  of  the 
sacrament  of  order ;  but  theologians  state  that  the 
Pope  was  endeavouring  to  induce  the  orientals  to  adopt 
this  rite  in  ordination,  and  therefore  insisted  on  this 
particularly,  being  silent  about  "  the  imposition  of 
hands,"  which  was  practiced  ^ike  by  both  churches, 
and  also  is  found  so  clearly  laid  down  in  the  Scriptures, 
that  there  was  no  question  about  it.  Besides,  he  held, 
as  is  also  done  by  all  in  the  present  time,  that  the  rite, 
pertaining  to  the  instruments,  is  an  integral  part  of 
ordination.  For  the  church  has  certainly  received  from 
Jesus  Christ  the  power  to  determine  what  shall  be  used 
as  pertaining  to  the  integrity  of  the  matter  of  the  sac- 
raments, though  the  matter  thereof,  at  least  in  a  gene- 
ral way,  was  indicated  by  the  author  of  the  sacraments, 
and  the  church  does  not  claim  to  have  the  right  to 
change  what  affects  the  substance  of  the  matter. 

A  scrupulous  attention  to  the  observance  of  the  rites 
prescribed  for  these  ordinations,  removes  all  danger  of 
any  practical  difficulty  regarding  them. 

For  sub  deaconship  and  the  minor  orders,  there  can 
be  no  difficulty  as  respects  the  matter  and  form,  if,  as 
is  commonly  held,  they  are  of  ecclesiastical  institution. 
In  sub-den conship,  there  is  no  imposition  of  hands,  but 
a  presentation  of  the  empty  chalice  and  patena,  with 
the  prescribed  form  of  words.  We  have  already  seen 
how  the  minor  orders  and  tonsure  arc  conferred. 

12 


2&6  OT   HOLY   ORDER. 


Of  the  Effects  of  the  Sacrament  of  Ordt ) 

The  effects  of  the  sacrament  of  order  are  :  1st.  Grace  ; 
2dly.  A  mark  or  character  ;  and  3dly.  Power  for  per- 
forming the  ecclesiastical  offices  appropriate  to  each 
order.  And  first,  grace  is  bestowed.  The  Council  of 
Trent  settles  this  doctrine  by  declaring  anathema  against 
any  one  who  denies  "  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  given  by 
sacred  ordination,"  In  the  first  days  of  the  church, 
the  charismata,  or  graces  for  the  benefit  of  others,  as 
miracles,  prophecy,  the  gift  of  tongues,  &c,  attended 
this  sacrament  as  well  as  confirmation,  but  not  as  at- 
tached permanently  to  the  rites,  but,  by  the  providence 
of  God,  given  as  long  u  needed  to  establish  the  church 
and  to  convert  the  world.  But  sanctifying  grace  was 
attached  permanently  to  these  rites;  and,  by  the  impo- 
sition of  hands,  the  onMined  receive  grace  to  augment 
their  holiness,  and  sacramental  grace  to  render  them 
more  fitted  to  exercise  the  holy  functions  of  their  office. 
To  this  grace  St,  Pa*il  referred,  when,  writing  to  Timo- 
thy, he  tells  him,  as  we  have  before  cited,  "  to  excite 
within  himself  the  grace  he  had  received  by  prophecy, 
and  by  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  priesthood." 
This  grace,  unless  where  an  obstacle  of  some  kind  pre- 
vents, is,  by  ordination,  made  habitual  in  the  soul,  and 
gives  a  right  to  the  ordained  person  to  the  actual  graces 
necessary  for  the  proper  end  of  this  sacrament  ;  viz. 
for  the  observance  of  the  clerical  vow,  for  the  keeping 
of  the  laws  of  the  church,  and  for  the  worthy  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacred  functions.  It  is  not  instituted  for 
conferring  what  is  termed  the  first  grace,  in  order  to 
make  a  sinner  just,  but  the  second  grace,  to  make  one 
already  just  still  more  so,  and  yet  it  is  held  that  it  may, 
under  certain  circumstances,  act  in  an  extraordinary 
manner,  and,  as  it  is  termed  per  accidens,  sometimes 
confer  the  first  grace.  As,  for  instance,  where  a  per- 
son was  ordained  in  good  faith,  thinking  himself  in  the 
slate  of  grace,  but  really  not  so  from  some  defect  on 
his  part,  of  which  he  was  no  longer  conscious.     Though 


OF   nOLY   ORDER.  267 

the  sacrament  of  Order  confers  grace  from  the  force  of 
the  rite  administered,  ex  opere  operato,  yet  the  sacra- 
mental grace  given,  varies  in  degree  according  to  the 
order  conferred,  and  to  the  more  or  less  perfect  dispo- 
sitions of  the  person  ordained.  The  want  of  suitable 
dispositions  may  diminish,  or  altogether  obstruct  the 
access  of  the  sacramental  grace. 

2d.  Of  the  Character.  In  speaking  of  the  sacra- 
ments in  general,  we  have  seen  that  three  of  them  im- 
print a  character  on  the  soul.  Of  these  three,  Order  is 
one.  Like  baptism  and  confirmation,  it  impresses  upon 
the  sonl  a  certain  spiritual  and  ineffaceable  sign.  This 
is  of  faith,  as  read  in  the  Council  of  Trent.  Mess.  VII. 
Can.  IX.  of  the  sacraments  in  general ;  and  of  order 
in  particular.  Session  XXIII  Can.  IV.  The  fact, 
that  the  church  has  ever  studiously  refrained  from  the 
reiteration  of  orders,  which  were  conferred  by  avalid 
rite  and  by  one  recognized  as  capable  to  administer 
orders,  is  evidence  that  this  has  always  been  the  faith 
of  the  church.  Even  orders  conferred  by  heretical, 
simoniacal,  or  schismatieal  bishops,  are  not  reiterated 
for  those  converted  to  the  unity  of  the  church,  as  may 
be  established  from  testimonies  from  St.  Jerome,  St. 
Augustine,  St.  Leo,  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  and  by  de- 
crees of  councils,  such  as  of  Carthage,  in  397  ;  tho 
general  council  of  Ephesus,  in  431 ;  the  third  general 
council  of  Constantinople,  in  680  ;  and  from  papal  de- 
crees and  constitutions.  If  clerical  converts  from  the 
Anglican  church,  arc  ordained,  it  is  because  Anglican 
orders  are  not  recognized  as  valid,  since  it  is  uncertain, 
whether  Barlow,  the  consecrator  of  Archbishop  Parker, 
from  whom  they  all  flow,  ever  was  himself  ordained 
bishop,  and  certain,  that  Parker,  if  ordained,  was  or- 
dained with  the  ordinal  of  Edward  VI.,  which  is  held 
to  be  an  insufficient  rite,  and  one  which  the  church  of 
England  recognized  to  be  insufficient,  by  changing  it 
for  another,  and  hence  it  has  become  an  impossibility 
to  establish  the  validity  of  Anglican  ordinations. 

The  character  or  mark  is  conferred  upon  those  right- 
ly ordained,    however   bad   their   dispositions,    if  they 


268  OF   HOLY   ORDER. 

publicly  present  themselves,  showing  the  intention  to  bo 
ordained.  Their  dispositions  being  bad,  will  prevent 
their  receiving  the  sacramental  grace,  but  not  the  char- 
acter, which  associates  them  with  the  priesthood  of 
Jesus  Christ.  They  will  be  in  mortal  sin  and  most  un- 
worthy, but  still  forever  marked  with  this  sign  upon  the 
soul,  as  has  ever  been  held  in  the  church.  Hence,  aa 
there  is  a  prohibition  to  reiterate  baptism  and  confirma- 
tion, so  also  is  there  a  law  against  reiterating  orders, 
and  the  church  extends  this  prohibition  to  all  the  or- 
ders, minor  as  well  as  greater,  and  even  to  the  ceremo- 
ny of  the  first  Tonsure,  although  those  theologians, 
who  do  not  admit  sub-deaconship  and  the  lesser  orders 
to  be  really  of  the  value  of  the  sacrament  of  Order,  re- 
strict the  sign  and  character  to  the  three  hierarchical 
ranks  of  episcopacy,  priesthood,  and  dcaconsliip.  Yet, 
as  the  other  orders  carry  with  them  a  special  consecra- 
tion to  certain  sacred  functions  and  fixed  offices  in  the 
church,  they  are  not  allowed  to  be  reiterated.  The  per- 
sons have  consecrated  themselves  to  God  and  to  the 
service  of  the  church,  and  the  church,  in  ordaining 
them,  has  marked  and  designated  them  as  permanently 
fitted  to  discharge  the  sacred  functions  annexed  to  each 
order,  and  while  they  live  they  remain  thus  capable, 
even  though  no  sign  be  thereby  fixed  upon  the  soul,  as 
takes  place  in  those  ranks  which  are  recognized  to  be 
parts  of  the  sacrament  of  order. 

3d.  Of  the  Power  conferred.  In  holy  order,  for  the 
priesthood,  a  third  effect  accompanies  the  character, 
and  is  usually  considered  as  the  sstme  effect  with  it,  this 
is  a  double  spiritual  power,  first,  to  consecrate,  offer, 
and  distribute  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
Eucharist,  and  secondly,  to  remit  and  retain  the  sins  of 
men;  the  first,  having  reference  to  the  natural  body  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  last  to  his  mystic  body,  the 
church.  •  The  first  is  termed  the  'power  of  Order,  the 
last  the  power  of  jurisdiction. 

Jurisdiction,  in  its  general  scope,  regards  the  exter- 
nal government  of  the  church,  as  well  as  the  interior 
tribunal  of  conscience.     The  faithful  are  constituted 


OP   HOLY   ORDER.  260 

into  a  society,  over  which  their  pastors  are  placed  to 
govern  and  direct  them,  and  for  their  union  laws  arc 
necessary,  otherwise  all  would  be  disorder  and  confu- 
sion. They  are  commanded  to  obey  their  pastors,  who 
arc  to  watch  over  them,  and  to  give  an  account  of  their 
souls.*  Hence  to  these  pastors  the  power  of  Jurisdic- 
tion is  indispensable.  But  the  power  of  Order  is  equal- 
ly necessary,  because  they  can  do  nothing  in  the  affair 
of  salvation  without  Christ,  who,  in  his  eternal  priest- 
hood, has  [laced  the  altar  of  sacrifice  in  the  midst  of 
the  people,  and  on  it  himself  as  the  victim,  of  which  they 
are  to  partake  when  offered  to  God  for  them  ;  and  there- 
fore he  has  entrusted  to  those  whom  he  has  made  his 
priests,  power  over  his  body  and  blood,  that  they  may 
distribute  them  as  food  to  nourish  the  souls  of  men, 
and  make  Christ  live  in  them.  The  holy  scriptures  de- 
clare this  twofold  power.  Tradition  has  continued  to 
tefch  it,  and  the  church  to  believe  it.f 

The  power  of  Order  was  given  to  the  Apostles,  when 
Jesus  Christ,  at  his  last  supper,  said  to  them,  "  Do  this 
for  a  commemoration  of  me."  He  then  ordained  them. 
After  his  resurrection,  he  conferred  on  them  the  power 
of  jurisdiction,  when  breathing  on  them  he  said  :  "  Ke- 
ceive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sin's  you  shall  forgive, 
they  are  forgiven  them  ;  and  whose  sins  you  shall  re- 
tain, they  are  retained." J 

In  more  general  terms,  conferring  the  power  "  to 
bind  and  loose  on  earth,"  and  promising  that  the  same 
should  be  ratified  in  heaven,  and  declaring"  them  his  re- 
presentatives-; "he  who  hears  you,  hears  me,"  he  con- 
stituted them  rulers  of  his  church ;  but  by  giving  "  the 
keys"  to  Teter  only,  he  subjected  all  to  one,  and  con- 
stituted the  power  of  jurisdiction  in  unity  of  exercise, 
so  that  there  should  be  "  one  household  of  the  faith," 
"  one  sheepfold,"  "  one  church  of  God,"  and  that  all 
the  extraordinary  powers  conferred,  should  be  used  for 


*Heb.  xiii.  17. 

t  Coun,  Trent.     Sess.  XXIII.     Can.  I. 

%  John  xx,  22,  23. 


270  OF  HOLY   ORDER. 

the  edification  and   prosperity  of   the  "  one  body  of 
Christ."     Hence  we  are  to  understand  : 

First,  that  priests  in  their  ordination,  receive  the 
power  to  consecrate  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  this  power  is  so  proper  to  priests,  that  it  be- 
longs to  bishops  only  because  they  are  priests. 

Secondly,  that  although  priests,  in  their  ordination, 
receive  the  power  to  remit  6ins,  the  priesthood  does  not 
properly  give  the  power  of  jurisdiction,  as  to  the  right 
of  exercising  it,  since  there  is  needed  an  assignment  of 
subjects  for  its  exercise,  which  is  to  be  made  by  th© 
bishop. 

Thirdly,  that  bishops  in  their  consecration,  receive  a 
power  of  Order  and  a  power  of  jurisdiction. 

Fourthly,  that  the  power  of  jurisdiction  belongs  pri- 
marily and  originally  to  bishops,  as*  having  received  it 
from  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  whom  they  are  placed  over 
the  flock  of  Jesus  Christ  to  rule  and  govern  it  as^s. 
Ticars.* 

The  bishops,  who  hold  the  first  rank  in  the  hierarchy,, 
and  are  successors  of  the  Apostles,  receive  the  power 
of  jurisdiction  in  ah  eminent  manner,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  communicate  it  to  priest;*,  who  are  subordinate  to 
them,  and  who  receive  this  power  indeed  as  it  is'con- 
tained  in  their  character  of  priest,  but  not  as  it  is  to  be 
exercised  for  the  people,  until  the  ruler  of  the  flock,  or 
chief  pastor,  has  given  them  authority  to  t^o  so,  and 
assigned  to  them  subjects,  to  whom  they  are  to  devote 
their  ministry. 

This  is  by  all  theologians  recognized,  whether  they 
consider  that  episcopal  ordination  gives  to  the  person 
ordained  a  character  distinct  from  that  of  the  priest- 
hood,  or  think  it  only  an  extension  and  perfectjpn  of 
the  same  order,  with  extension  of  character  and  powers* 
They  are  required  to  believe  that  the  power  of  Order 
is  not  the  same  in  the  priests  and  bishops,  nor  the 
power  of  jurisdiction  the  same,  but  that  bishops  possess 
these  in  a  more  eminent  degree,  and  can  perform  func- 

*  AcU  xx :  28. 


OF   HOLY   ORDER,  271 

tions,  for  which  the  episcopal  dignity  is  so  essentially 
necessary,  that  priests  can  in  no  wise  perform  them  va- 
lidly. 

Of  the  Minister  of  the  Sacrament  of  Ord*r. ' 

It  is  of  faith  that  bishops  are  superior  to  priests  : 
that  they  have  the  power  to  administer  confirmation 
and  confer  orders ;  and  that  this  power  is  not  common 
to  them  with  priests,  but  belongs  to  them  properly. 
The  bishops  then  only  are  the  ministers  of  Holy  Order. 
This  doctrine  is  sustained  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in 
which  wc  behold  persons  ordained  only  by  the  Apos- 
tles, or  by  such  as  the  Apostles  had  ordained  bishops. 
The  Apostles  imposed  hands  on  the  deacons.  They 
also  ordained  Paul  and  Barnabas  bishops.  These  in 
turn  ordained  priests  in  the  churches.  Paul  ordained 
Timothy,  as  he  declares  himself.  To  Timothy  and  Ti- 
tus, as  bishops,  he  gave  instructions  regarding  the 
choice  of  persons  upon  whom  they  should  "impose 
hands"  to  ordain  them  as  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons. 
It  is  also  clear,  from  the  apostolical  constitutions,  from 
ancient  councils,  and  from  the  fathers  and  doctors  of 
the  church  in  every  age,  and  from  the  unvaried  prac- 
tice both  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  church,  that  only 
bishops  are  recognized  as  having  the  power  to  confer 
Holy  Order  for 'the  three  hierarchial  ranks  of  Episco- 
pacy, priesthood  and  deaconship.'  There  is  not  the  least 
doubt  of  this,  and  even  those  who  during  the  first  ages, 
for  some  heresy  left  the  church,  have  shown  their  re- 
cognition of  this  faith,  by  endeavoring  always  to  havo 
their  ministers  ordained  by  those  who  were  known  to 
hjp  bishops.  And,  where  attempts  were  made,  by  those 
not  bishops,  to  confer  these  orders,  the  reclamation 
against  such  ordination  was  loud  and  general. 

For  sub-dcaconship  and  the  minor  orders,  the  church 
has  not,  in  all  cases,  required  that  the  one  ordaining 
ehould  have  the  episcopal  character.  It  is  commonly 
held  that  the  Popo  can  authorize  a  simple  priest  to  con- 


272  OF  HOLY   ORDER. 

for  these  orders.     Yet  it  is  the  custom  to  receive  them 
from  bishops  only,  i 

Of  the  Subject  who  is  to  Receive  the  Sacrament  of  Or- 
der— The  Conditions  Required. 

To  expose  all  the  qualities  which  the  church  desires 
to  find  in  those  associated  to  the  priesthood,  and  all  the 
regulations  she  has  made  to  inspire  reverence  for  their 
high  dignity  and  its  sacred  offices,  would  require  a  vol- 
ume. In  speaking  therefore  of  the  subject,  or  person 
to  receive  this  sacrament,  we  can  only  mention  a  few 
general  points.  This  sacrament  requires  some  condi- 
tions for  its  valid,  and  others  for  its  licit  administra- 
tion. 

1st.  It  is  recognized  that  only  men  are  the  fit  sub- 
jects for  this  sacrament. 

2d.  That  women  are,  by  divine  law,  held  incapable 
to  receive  it.  .    . 

3d.  That  for  its  validity  a  person  must  have  been 
baptized. 

4th.  That  he  was  not  plainly  and  absolutely  unwill- 
ing to  be  ordained.  In  the  early  period  of  the  church, 
persons  who  had  no  thought  to  be  ordained,  were  cho- 
sen by  the  people,  and  reluctantly  suffered  themselves 
to  be  ordained.  They  yielded  to  the  anxiety  and  ur- 
gency of  the  people,  and  gave  a  passive  consent, 
which  was  sufficient.  The  common  opinion  is  that 
an  ordination  conferred  on  one  absolutely  unwilling 
would  be  null.  Theologians  have  differed  about  the 
question,  whether  infants  could  receive  this  sacrament 
and  would  be  validly  ordained.  Some  say  such  ordina- 
tion would  be  valid,  others  declare  it  null.  Even  if 
supposed  valid  as  to  the  character,  certainly,  the  obli- 
gations, which  go  with  it  for  adults,  could  not  be  bind- 
ing, as  they  were  not  freely  assumed.* 

5th.  Persons  ordained  must  have  the  use  of  reason, 

*  Benedict  XIV :  on  the  Cophtic  Rites. 


I 

OF   nOLY   ORDER.  273 

hcn^e  those  destitute  of  reason,  or  the  inebriated,  would 
not  be  ordained,  as  most  commonly  held. 

For  a  licit  ordination,  the  church  by  precept  requires 
that  the  person  shall  have  received  confirmation,  and  this 
she  even  requires  before  the  First  Tonsure  is  given. 
She  also  requires  the  following  conditions : 

1.  A  divine  vocation,  as  far  as  can  be  judged  by  the 
positive  and  negative  signs  thereof. 

2.  A  right  intention,  and  not  merely  worldly  motives. 

3.  Proved  sanctity,  or  the  qualities  as  set  forth  h^y 
St.  Paul  as  necessary  for  the  deacon,  priest,  and  bishop. 

4.  Competent  science,  which  is  different  for  different 
orders. 

5.  Legitimate  age,  which  is  less  for  the  First  Ton- 
sure and  minor  orders,  but  for  sub-deaconship,  the  twen- 
ty-second year  ;  for'  deaconship,  the  twenty -third  ;  for 
priesthood  the  twenty-fifth ;  and  for  bishops  the  end  of 
the  thirtieth  year  of  age. 

6.  A  becoming  locality,  generally  the  cathedral 
church,  though  custom  allows  the  bishop  to  use  his  own 
chapel,  or  some  other  church  or  chapel. 

7.  The  appointed  time,  as  the  morning,  and  on  Sun- 
days or.festivals  of  the  double  rank.  The  greater  or- 
ders, by  precept  are  to  be  conferred  on  the  Saturday 
of  the  quarter  tenses,  or  ember  days,  and  during  mass. 
The  bishop,  who  ordains,  is  also  to  celebrate  the  mass 
for  the  lawfulness  of  the  ordination,  though  the  ordina- 
tion would  be  valid  if  a  different  bishop  celebrated. 
This  law  as  to  the  time  admits  of  dispensation.  The 
Tonsure  can  be  given  at  any  time,  hour,  and  place,  as 
declared  in  the  pontifical.  Bishops  are  ordained  on 
Sundays,  or  on  the  feast  of  an  Apostle,  and,  by  con- 
cession of  the  papal  indult,  on  any  festival  day. 

8.  The  observance  of  the  Interstices,  or  intervals  of 
time  which  by  law  should  occur  between  the  orders. 
For  the  minor  orders  it  is  not  customary  now  to  ob- 
serve an  interval,  but  commonly  they  are  conferred  on 
the  same  day.  There  is  a  strict  law  prohibiting  from 
conferring  or  receiving  on  the  rame  day  two  of  the  sa- 
cred  orders,  unless   the  utility  and  necessity  of  the 


4 

274  OP  HOLY   ORDER. 

church  demand  it,  when  bishops  have  power  to  dispense 
with  this  law. 

9.  A  required  title,  or  the  evidence  that  the  person 
has  sufficient  provision  for  a  decent  support,  according 
to  the  rank  of  his  order.  In  the  first  days  of  the 
church,  they  were  assigned  to  particular  churches, 
which  they  had  to  serve,  and  thence  to  derive  their  sup- 
port. 

10.  An  ordination  by  degrees,  and  not  per  saltum, 
09  skipping.  Such  an  ordination,  except  in  case  of  one 
ordained  bishop  without  having  been  ordained  priest,  or 
the  conferring  of  a  particular  order  without  the  one 
preceding  having  been  given,  was  held  to  be  valid,  be- 
cause each  order  is  independent,  but  it  was  not  licit ; 
and  to  give  orTeceive  them  thus  intentionally,  is  held 
a  grievous  sin ;  and  the  church  inflicts  penalties  on  the 
ordainer  and  ordained,  and  requires  the  omission  to 
be  supplied.  To  ordain  any  one  bishop,  who  has  not 
been  ordained  priest*first,  is  to  perform  a  null  and  in- 
valid rite. 

Lastly.  The  church  requires  immunity  from,  what 
she  terms,  irregularities.  Irregularity  is  derived  from 
regula,  or  rule,  and  that  which  is  without  rule,  or 
against  rule,  is  termed  irregular.  As  her  ministers 
have  to  edify  the  people  by  the  regularity  of  their 
conduct,  the  church  has  enacted  laws  and  prescribed 
rules  for  those  who  seek  promotion  to  the  orders  of  the 
ministry.  She  has  deduced  most  of  these  rules  from 
the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  where 
he  instructs  them  as  to  the  qualities  of  the  persons  to 
be  ordained.  Irregularity  is  a  canonical  impediment, 
which  renders  a  person  unsuited  to  be  promoted  to  or- 
ders, or  to  exercise  the  functions  of  them,  if  he  have 
been  already  ordained.  He  is  made  unsuited  for  ordi- 
nation, but  not  incapable  of  being'ordained,  by  irregu- 
larity, and  hence  the  irregularity  does  not  annul  .the 
ordination.  It  is  a  prohibition  by  the  church  to  receive 
or  exercise  orders.  To.be  ordained,  or  to  exercise  the 
order  already  received,  while  under  an  irregularity,  is 
held  to  be  a  mortal  sin. 


OF    CELIBACY.  275 

Irregularities  are  divided  into  two  kinds,  those  aris- 
ing .from  defect,  and  those  coming  from  fault  or  crime. 
The  defects  which  induce  irregularity,  are  nine  in  num- 
ber. 1st  defect,  of  birth ;  2d,  of  intellect ;  3d,  defect 
of  the  body  ;  4th,  of  age ;  5th,  of  liberty  ;  6th,  defect 
arising  from  obligation  to,  the  state  or  individuals,  by 
way  of  indebtedness ;  7th,  defect  of  reputation ;  8th, 
of  bigamy  ;*  9th,  of  meekness.  With  the  exception 
of  defect  of  reputation,  any  of  them  may  be  supposed 
to  exist  without  fault. 

The  crimes  which  render  a  person  irregular,  in  the 
present  discipline  of  the  church,  are  let.  Heresy  and 
Apostacy  ;  2d.  Homicide  and  mutilation  ;  3.  The  vio- 
lation of  censures ;  4th.  The  non-canonical  reception 
of  any  sacred  order  ;  5th.  An  illicit  use  of  the  func- 
tions of  any  order  by  those  who  have  not  received  the 
orders  ;  6th.  The  reiteration  of  the  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism ;  and,  finally,  all  those  things  which,  by  law  or  in 
fact,  make  a  person  infamous.  Let  this  suffice  with 
respect  to  the  sacrament  of  Holy  Order.  In  the  next 
chapter  we  shall  consider  a  point  in  the  discipline  of 
the  church,  with  respect  to  her  ministers,  in  order  to 
render  them  more  worthy  and  efficient  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  sacred  functions. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

OF  CELIBACY — IT  IS  AN  OBLIGATION  FOR  TIIE  CLERGY — 
IT  IS  A  MORE  EXCELLENT  AND  HOLY  STATE  THAN 
THAT    OF    MATRIMONY. 

The  church  strictly  requires  from  all  whom  she  ad- 
mits to  sacred  orders  the  vow  of  celibacy,  and  thcre- 


*  Having  been  married  twice  is  the  bigamy  referred  to  bare.     Si- 

liiiiltaueous  biqamy  would  bo  worse  than  an  irregularity. 


276  OF    CELIBACY. 

fore  requires,  from  those  who  aspire  to  the'priesthood, 
entire  continence  from  the  period  of  their  initiation 
into  the  body  of  the  clergy,  by  the  first  tonsure,  and 
in  their  progress  through  the  minor  orders.  But  as  it 
is  possible  for  those  in  minor  orders,  to  pass  again  into 
the  life  of  the  world,  if  they  find  they  have  no  voca- 
tion, it  is  only  when  conferring  the  sub-deaconship,  that 
the  Church  requires  the  vow,  and  imposes  the  obliga- 
tion of  celibacy.  The  vow  is  to  be  made  freely,  and  no 
person  is  compelled  to  enter  into  orders,  therefore  none 
need  complain  of  the  law.  That  the  state  of  celibacy 
is  one  more  perfect  than  that^f  marriage  is  an  article 
of  faith.  The  Council  of  Trent  declares :  "  If  any 
one  saith,  that  the  marriage  state  is  to  be  placed  above 
the  state  of  virginity,  or  of  celibacy,  and  that  it  is  not 
better  and  more  blessed  to  remain  in  virginity,  or  in 
celibacy,  than  to  be  united  in  matrimony ;  let  him  be 
anathema."*  The  words  of  our  Saviour,  in  St.  Ma- 
thew,  show  this  doctrine  :  "There  are  eunuchs,  who  have 
made  themselves  eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
He  that  can  take,  let  him  take  it."f  St.  Paul  teaches 
clearly  that  the  state  of  virginity  is  better,  and  gives 
"the  power  to  attend  to  the  Lord,  without  impedi- 
ment." He  tells  "  the  unmarried,  that  it  is  good  for 
them  if  they  so  continue,"  even  as  he  did  himself.  That 
the  married  are  divided,  in  their  solicitude,  while  the 
unmarried  can  be  "  solicitous  only  for  the  things  which 
belong  to  God  and  how  to  please  God.  "J  To  him  who 
leaves  his  wife  for  his  sake,  Jesus  Christ  promises  eter- 
nal life,  and  of  course,  it  is  the  same  merit,  for  his  sake, 
to  refrain  from  marrying  altogether. 

Even  the  Pagans  recognized  that  the  state  of  vir- 
ginity was  a  more  holy  state  than  marriage,  and  that  it 
was  one  especially  becoming  in  such  as  were  consecrated, 
to  the  service  of  the  altar.  "It  was,"  says  de  Maistre, 
"a  common  opinion  among  men  of  all  times,  of  all 
places,  of  all  religions,  that  there  is  in  continence  some- 
thing celestial,  which  exalts  man  and  renders  him  agree- 

*  Sess.  XXIV,  Can.  X.     f  Mat.  xix  :  12.     J  1  Cor.  ch.  vii. 


OF    CELIBACY.  277 

able  to  the  Divinity ;  that,  as"  a  necessary  consequence, 
all  sacerdotal  functions,  or  religious  acts  and  ceremo- 
nies, either  but  little  or  not  at  all  accord  with  the  mar- 
riage state."*  At- Rome,  the  priestesses  of  Vesta  were 
required  to  observe  entire  continence,  and  being  desig- 
nated from  the  age  of  six  to  ten  years,  were  only  al- 
lowed to  marry  after  thirty  years'  service,  on  renounc- 
ing their  functions,  and  even  then  their  marriage  was 
considered  as  a  sort  of  sacri^ge.  The  penalty  of  a  vi- 
olation of  the  law  of  virginity  was  to  be  interred  alive, 
and  it  was  the  custom  to  offer  yearly  sacrifices  of  expi- 
ation-upon  their  tombs.  St.  Jerome  testifies  to  the  es- 
ter m  which  Pagan  nations  had  for  this  virtue,  especial- 
ly in  its  relation  to  sacerdotal  functions,  f  although  it 
must  be  admitted  that  they  had  little  idea  of  chastity 
as  a  Christian  virtue,  which  comprehends  purity  of 
thought  and  mind,  as  well  as  continence,  but  consider- 
ed merely  the  material  or  external  chastity  of  the  body, 
Tibullus,  in  the  first  elegy  of  his  second  book,  declares 
that  "  chastity  is  pleasing  to  the  Gods."  Cicero  says 
that  "the  Gods  are  to  be  approached  chastely,"  A d 
divos  adeunto  easte.%  "I  am  persuaded,"  says  Demos- 
thenes," that  he,  who  enters  the  sanctuary,  who  touches 
sacred  things,  ought  to  be  chaste,  not  only  during  a 
certain  number  of  determined  days,  but  during  his 
whole  life."§  The  avowal  of  David  regarding  ^iniself 
and  the  young  men  with  him,  before  he  was  allowed  to 
partake  of  the  breads  of  proposition,||  and  the  fact  that 
the  priests,  who,  in  their  turn,  performed  the  functions 
of  the*  priesthood,^  were  required  to  live  apart  from 
their  wives,  prove  that  the  value  of  this  virtue,  and  its 
propriety  for  times  and  acts  pertaining  to  the  worship 
of  God,  had  been  taught  to  the  Jewish  people.  .  From 
this  St.  Jerome,  in  his  comments  on  the  first  chapter  of 
the  epistle  to  Titus,  and  Innocent  I,  in  his  third  letter 
to  Exuperius,  argue  that  the  priests  of  the  new  law 


*  Du  Pape,  book  LIV.,  ch.  Ill,  sec.  1st.       fCont.  Jovinian,  1  lib. 
n.  41.      J  i)e  leg.  lib.  ii:  8.      §  Discourse  against  ThnoOrates.     II  1 
xxi  :  4,  5.      IT  1  Paralip.  xxiv.     Luke  i. 


278  OF    CELIBACY. 

should  observe  perpetual  chastity,  because  their  minis- 
try is  without  succession,  and  they  daily  consecrate, 
receive,  and  distribute  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  of 
which  the  breads  of  proposition  were  the  figure. 

Origen,  speaking  on  this  subject  says  :  "  It  seems  to 
me  that,  to  offer  the  unceasing  sacrifice  belongs  only  to 
him,  who  has  vowed  himself  to  perpetual  and  unceas- 
ing chastity."*  And  Ave  have  the  testimony  of  St.  Je- 
rome and  St.  Epiphanius  liiat,  even  from  the  first  days 
of  the  church,  it  was  studiously  endeavoured  to  cause 
those  who  were  promoted  to  holy  orders,  to  give  up  co- 
habitation with  their  wives,  as. the  church,  in  the  be- 
ginning, because  of  the  paucity  of  her  members,  had 
frequently  to  confer  orders  on  men  already  married. 
St.  Jerome,  speaking  of  the  church  of  the  East,  in 
which  he  dwelt  during  a  greater  part  of  his  life,  remarks 
that  "they  chose  for  bishops, priests, and  deacons,  either 
those  who  had  never  married,  or  who  had  lost  their 
wives,  or  who,  after  receiving  sacred  orders,  lived  in 
continence."!  St.  Epiphanius  is  not  less  clear  on  the 
subject.  "The  church,"  says  he,  "  never  elevates  to 
the  order  of  deacon,  priest,  or  bishop,  nor  even  to  that 
of  sub-deacon,  the  one  Avho  lives  in  the  marriage  state, 
and  desires  to  have  a  family  ;  but  only  such  as  having 
one  wife  voluntary  separate  from  her,  or  are  deprived  of 
her  by»death.  This  is  especially  practiced  in  places 
where  the  ecclesiastical*  canons  are  religiously  obser- 
ved."! The  Council  of  Elvira,  in  the  year  305,  en- 
joins this  under  penalty  of  interdict  from  their  func- 
tions^ Pope  Siricius,  in  a  letter  to  Himerius, 'bishop 
of  Tarragona,  declares  the  same  obligatory  on  married 
men  promoted  to  holy  orders,  and  says,  that,  "  from 
the  time  of  ordination,  insolubile  lege  adstringimur, 
we  are  held  by  an  irrevocable  law,  to  devote  our  hearts 
and  bodies  to  temperance  and  chastity." |  This  was 
written  in  the  year  395,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 


*  Horn.  23,  on  Numbers.  j  Letter  XXX.  Cont  Jovinian. 

JHyeres.  LIX,      (jCan.  XXXI II.      ||  Cited   by  Lubbe,  Tom.  II.  Col. 
1019. 


msmmm  0F  CELIBACY.  279 

posing  some  new  legislation,  but  to  call  attention  to  the 
law,  as  already  in  force  in  the  church  of  the  West,  which 
strictly  enjoins  celibacy  on  the  clergy.  In  fact,  the 
second  council  of  Carthage,  in  890,  ordaining  the  same, 
declares  that  it  was  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles:  "that 
we  also  may  keep,  what  the  Apostles  have  taught,  and 
antiquity  itself  observed."*  The  law  has  since  been 
confirmed  by  councils  in  Africa,  Spain  and  Gaul,  and 
the  Council  of  Trent  declares  anathema  against  "any 
one  who  saith,  that  clerics  constituted  in  sacred  orders, 
or  Regulars,  who  have  solemnly  professed  chastity,  are 
able  to  contract  marriage,  and  that  being  contracted  it 
is  valid,  notwithstanding  the  ecclesiastical  law  or  vow."f 
In  the  Latin  church,  this  was  the  discipline  from  the 
beginning,  and  it  never  was  recognized  as  lawful  for 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  either  to  marry  after  or- 
dination, or  to  cohabit  with  their  wives  whom  they  had 
espoused  before  ordination.  At  first,  indeed  the  law 
did  not  include  sub-deaconship,  which  was  not  number- 
ed with  the  greater  or  sacred  orders,  before  the  time  of 
Urban  II.,  who  occupied  the  chair  of  Peter  from  1088 
to  1099.  We  learn  this  from  Innocent  III — who  seems 
to  represent  Urban  II.  as  the  first  who  placed  this  or- 
der among  the  sacred  orders.  Innocent  III.,  by  allow- 
ing bishops  to  be  elected  from  among  sub-deacons,  con- 
tributed greatly  to  give  to  it  this  rank.  Yet  Pope  Syl- 
vester, in  the  second  council  of  Rome,  binds  sub-dea- 
cons to  continence,  prohibiting  them  to  marry  after 
ordination.  There  were'  some  local  and  personal  ex- 
ceptions to  the  discipline,  as  respected  deacons,  from 
what  appears  in  a  decree  of  the  synod  of  Ancyra,| 
At  first,  the  discipline  did  not  embrace  a  law  annulling 
marriages  entered  into  by  those  in  sacred  orders,  but 
contained  penalties,  such  as  suspension  from  the  minis- 
try, and  even  deposition  from  the  order.  It  is  said  by 
some,  that  Pope  Calixtus  II.,  elected  in  1119,  was  the 
first,  who,  by  a  universal  law,  declared  such  marriages 


*II.  Counc.  Carthage.  Can.  II.      f  Sess.  XXIV,  Can.  IX.       J  See 
Labbe-Tom.  I.  p.  1459  D. 


280  OF   CELIBACY. 

null,  and  required  a  separation.  Others  maintain  that 
this  was  decreed,  a  little  later,  by  Innocent  II.,  who 
was  elected  in  1130.  The  churgh  has  since  continued 
to  regard  suoh  marriages,  not  only  as  sacrilegious,  but 
as  null  and  void.  '  From  time  to  time,  she  has  called 
attention  to  the  ancient  rule  handed  down,  and  added 
new  regulations  for  removing  and  preventing  abuses, 
which  would  bring  dishonor  on  so  sacred  a  ministry. 

The  Greek  and  oriental  churches  insensibly  relaxed 
from  the  vigor  of  the  primitive  discipline.  In  the  be- 
ginning, they  received  the  same  discipline  as  to  celibacy 
with  the  church  of  the  West,  for,  as  St.  Clement  de- 
clares, "  this  was  a  regulation  of  St.  Peter,  prince  of 
the  Apostles  ;""  and  the  testimonies  of  Origen,  St.  Je- 
rome, and  St.  Epiphanius,  show  that,  up  to  their  time, 
it  had  been  the  effort  of  the  Greek  church  to  procure 
the  strict  observance  of  this  law.  Nor  did  the  Greek 
church,  at  any  time,  allow  marriage  to  the  clergy  after 
receiving  sacred  orders,  but  held,  and  still  holds  such 
marriages  as  null.  Besides  in  the  first  ages,  she  did 
not  allow  those,  who  had  been  ordained  bishops  and 
priests  after  being  married,  to  live  as*  before,  but  re- 
quired continence.  She  departed  from  this  discipline, 
about  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Trullo,  also  called  the 
Quinisextian,  which  permitted  to  priests,  deacons,  and 
sub-deacons,  who  were  married  before  ordination,  to  re- 
main with  their  wives,  except  at  the  period  of  their 
term  of  service  in  the  sacred  ministry,  but  did  not  allow 
the  same  privilege  to  bishops. 

Though  the  Holy  See  has  not  approved  several  things 
enacted  by  this  council,  and  could  not  be  pleased  with 
this  innovation;  we  do  not  find-  that  it,  or  the  Council 
of  Florence,  has  refused  to  tolerate  the  permission  given 
by  said  council,  as  regards  .the  priests  of  the  Greek 
church ;  being  doubtless  urfcvilling  to  give  rise  to  an- 
other obstacle  to  the  re-union  of  the  churches.  Never- 
theless, it  has  always  been  very  firm,  in  spite  of  the 
greatest  influence  exerted  at  times  to  procure  relaxation 
of  the  law  of  celibacy,  in  maintaining  it  strictly  in  the 
church  of  the  West,  and  this  firmness  has  continually 


OF    CELIBACY.  281 

received  the  approbation  of  all  among  the  clergy,  who 
have  appreciated  the  holiness  and  dignity  of  their  st:it<\ 
and  the  priceless  advantages,  which  religion  and  socie- 
ty have  derived,  from  the  existence  of  the  present  dis- 
cipline, during  all  the  ages  of  the  church  from  the  very 
days  of  the  Apostles.  The  best  testimonies  of  Tradi- 
tion go  to  show  that  the  Apostles,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  St.  Peter,  were  not  married,  and  thafst.  Peter, 
as  he  declared  to  Christ,  "Jeft  all  things"  for  him,  and 
of  course  his  wife  also.  As  far  as  they  could,  under  the 
circumstances,  they  called  only  the  unmarried  to  share 
in  the  ministry;  and  if  they  found  themselves  compell- 
ed to  promote  to  this  dignity  married  converts,  they  in- 
duced them  to  endeavour'  to  fulfil  the  counsel,  and  imi- 
tate the  example  of  their  divine  master,  and,  like,  St. 
Peter,  to  abandon  all  things  for  the  sake  of  him,  who 
wished  them  to  be  his  ambassadors.and  ministei's,  and 
not  only  "to  preach  his  gospel,"  but  to  exhibit  it  in 
their  lives. 

Those  who  neither  love  the  Catholic  church  nor  this 
particular  discipline,  object  these  words  of  St.  Paul, 
where  he  speaks  of  the  qualifications  of  bishops,  say- 
ing :  "  It  behooveth  therefore  a  bishop  to  be  blameless, 
the  husband  of  one  wife"*  etc.  They  urge  that  this 
saying  of  the  Apostle  is  against  such  a  discipline.  The 
church  does  not  think  so,  and  the  decision  of  the  dis- 
pute depends  upon  the  intention  of  the  Apostle.  Did 
he  intend  a  command  and  injunction  that  the  bishop 
should  have  a  wife  ?  Why  then  had  he^ione  himself  ? 
And  why  advise  others  to  remain  single  as  he  was  him- 
self ?  Or  was  bis  saying  to  be  understood  negatively, 
*'  do  not  take  for  bishop  a  man  who  has  more -wives  than 
one,  or  a  man  that  has  been  married  more  than  once  ?" 
This  is  what  the  church  has  understood  him  to  mean, 
and  she  is  more  likely  to  understand  what  the  Apostle 
intended  than  those  who  differ  from  him  in  giving  prefer- 
ence to  marriage  over  celibacy,  which  he  did  not  assu- 
redly..    That  he  meant  what  the  church  says,  is  plain 

*  1  Tim.  iii:  2,  and  Tit.  i :  0. 


282  ©F    CELIBACY. 

from  his  using  the  same  expression  in  a  «imilar  sense, 
when  he  recommends  that  only  widows  should  be  select- 
ed £or  deaconesses,  "  who  have  been  the  wife  of  one 
husband."*  He  thinks  that  she,  who  has  been  married 
more  than  once,  though  a  widow  again,  is  not  fit  to  be 
chosen  to  serve  in  the  church.  The  fact  of  having  been 
married  a  second  time  seems  to  constitute  an  objection 
here,4  as  m  the  case  of  those  to  be  chosen  for  the 
ministry,  for  he  uses  the  same  expression  with  respect 
to  deacons:  "Let  deacons  be  the  husband  of  one  wife;" 
that  is,  let  them  be  free  both  from  simultaneous,  and 
successive  bigamy.  If  they  have  only  married  once, 
they  may  be  promoted,  but  not  if  they  have  had  more 
than  one  wife.  But  he  does  not  say  they  shall  remain 
with  that  wife  as  before,  for  his  divine  master  had  pro- 
mised eternal  life  to  him  who,  for  his  sake,  should  leave 
his  wife,f  &c.  And  to  prove  that  such  was  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Apostle,  we  have  only  to  call  to  mind  that 
the  early  followers  of  Christ,  and  members  of  his 
church,  could  scarcely  endure  that  Christians  should 
marry  a  second  time.  Not  only  were  they  scandalized 
by  such  marriages,  but  the  clergy  in  most  parts  were 
for  a  long  time  unwilling  to  impart  the  nuptial  benedic- 
tion to  those  who  entered  into  them  ;  and  this  both 
among  the  Greek  and  the  Latins.  Certain  local  coun- 
cils even  drew  up  penitential  canons,  subjecting  such 
persons  to  periods  of  penance,  and  for  a  time  withhold- 
ing from  them  the  holy  communion,  not  as  a  prohibi- 
tion of  a  crime*  but  as  a  prevention  of  scandal.  The 
church  indeed,  never  expressly  condemned  second  or 
other  successive  marriages  as  invalid,  holding  them  free 
and  legitimate.  ■  St.  Paul  himself  has  allowed  second 
marriages.  But  some  of  the  fathers  have  used  exag- 
gerated terms  to  stigmatize  them  ;  and  oertain  heretics, 
as  the  Montanists  and'  Novatians,  denounced  them  as 
invalid,  and  for  this  were  condemned  by  the  Council  of 
Nice.  The  early  Christians,  however,  had  so  exalted 
an  idea  of  the  superior  excellence  of  virginity,  that, 

*  1  Tim.  v:  9.        f  Math,  xrx:  29. 


OF    CELIBACY.  283 

•while  they  helioved  marriage  to  be  a  holy  state,  and 
that  it  had  the  dignity  of  being  a  sacrament,  they  con- 
sidered persons,  who  should  marry  a  second  time,  not 
sufficiently  spiritual,  in  not  being  able  to  aspire  to  what« 
was  more  perfect,   even  when   God,    by  taking  away 
their  partner,  left  them  free  to  do  so.    Besides,  esteem- 
ing marriage   as  a  sign   of  the   union   of  Jesus   Christ 
with  his  church,  they  desired  to  see  its  dignity  preserv- 
ed by  the  holy  conjugal  union    of  two   only,  without  a 
third  pajty  coming  in  succession.     They  knew  also  that 
second   and  other  marriages  are   the  fruitful  cause  of 
disorders,  ■  dissections,    and    unhappincss    in    families. 
Undoubtedly,  the  teachings  of  St.  Paul,  in  the  passa- 
ges in  question,  contributed  to  give  to  the  first  Chris- 
tians these  sentiments.     At'  no  period  has  it  been  un- 
derstood in   the  church  that  the  Apostle  desired  that 
Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons  should  be  married  men. 
But  it  is  further  objected,  that  St.  Paul  had  a  wife, 
because  he  says  :   "  Have  we  not  power  to  lead  about  a 
woman,  a  sister,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,"*  &o. 
Again  he   says:   "And  L  entreat   thee  also,  my  sincere 
companion',  help  those  women  who  have   laboured  with 
me  in  the  gospel. "f     They  represent  that  this  woman, 
a  sister,  was   his   "sincere   companion,"  or   wife.     St. 
Jerome,  who  knew  what  the  ancient  church   believed 
about  the   meaning    of  these    passages,    sa}rs :     "The 
Apostle  speaks  of  holy  women,  who  according  to  the 
Jewish    custom,   ministered  of  their  substance  to   the 
teachers,  as  we  read  they  did  to   our  Lord  himself. "J 
And  the  Apostle,  who,  in  the   seventh  chapter  of  the 
same  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  declares  himself  to  be 
unmarried,  and  is  recommending  to  widows  and  single 
persons  to  remain  single  and  unmarried  as  choosing  the 
better  part,  and  being  better  able  to  give  God  undivided 
service,  is  not  likely  to  be  talking,  in  the  ninth  chapter, 
about  his  having  a  wife,  or  his  right  to  Imve  one.     He 
claims  the  right  to  have  the  aid  of  a  Bister  in  religion, 
in  his  labours  to  spread  the  gospel.     And  it  is  not  even 


1  Cor.  ix:  5.     f  Phil,  iv:  3.     JSi.  Jer.  lib.  i.  Cont.  Jovinian. 


284  OP  MATRIMONY. 

certain  that  the  "sincere  companion,"  alluded  to  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  the  Philippians,  was  a  female,  as  the 
Greek  word  for  associate  or  companion,  suffers  either 
the  masculine  or  feminine  article,  and  might  be  trans- 
lated either  as  a  male  or  female  companion,  and  both 
St.  Chrysostom  and  Theophylactus  represent  that  St. 
Paul  most  probably  referred  to  the  husband  of  one  of 
the  women,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse,  Evodia 
or  Syntyche.  But  I  fear  I  have  already  extended  this 
chapter  more  than  consistent  with  the  space  at  my  dis- 
posal for  other  matters,  and  therefore  now  conclude  the 
subject. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

OF  THE  SACRAMENT   OF   MATRIMONY — OF  THE    ENDS   OF 
MATRIMONY — OF  ITS  NATURE — MATRIMONY  IS  A  TRUE 
SACRAMENT — PROOFS  OF  THIS — OF  THE  MATTER,  THE 
FORM,  AND  THE   MINISTER   OF  THIS   SACRAMENT — OF 
THE  PROPERTIES  OF  MARRIAGE — ITS    UNITY — ITS  IN- 
•  DISSOLUBILITY,  AND    OF   DIVORCE — OF   THE   MARRIA- 
GES OF  SLAVES — OF   THE  SUBJECT,  OR   OF  THOSE  WHO 
CONTRACT     MARRIAGE — THE    IMPEDIMENTS — OF    THE 
t  POWER  TO  ESTABLISH  IMPEDIMENTS — ANNULLING  IM- 
PEDIMENTS—  PROHIBITIVE    IMPEDIMENTS  —  OF   THE 
DISPOSITIONS  FOR  RECEIVING  THIS  SACRAMENT. 

Of  the  Ends  of  Matrimony. 

We  have  often  had  occasion  to  represent  that  it  was 
the  design  and  purpose,  of.  the  divine  founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, to  restore  meji  from  their  fallen  condition,  and 
to  renovate  them  through  the  means  of  grace,  and  that 
for  this  end  He  established,  endowed,  and"  commissioned 
his  church,  and  gave  to  her  for  the  benefit  of  men  His 
holy  sacraments,  each  with  reference  to  a  particular  in- 


OP    MATRIMONY.  285 

fluence  and  end,  in  harmony  with  the  nature  and  wants 
of  those  for  whom  they  were  instituted.  By  Holy  Or- 
der, He  provided  ministers  to  rule  His  church,  and  ad- 
minister the  sacraments.  But  there  has  always  existed 
a  divine  institution,  which  is  the  source  of  human  gen- 
erations, and  upon  the  condition  of  which  the  whole 
stream  of  human  life  is  dependent.  God  when  he  in- 
stituted marriage,  blessed  it,  and  assigned  its  office. 
"And  God  blessed  them,  saying:  increase  and  multi- 
ply, and  fill  the  earth,  and  subdue  it."*  God  also  in- 
dicated that,  besides  this  chief  end  of  marriage,  which 
regards  the  offspring  and  the  care  and  education  neces- 
sary for  them,  it  was  ncedfnl  for  man  to  have  a  com- 
panion. "  And  the  Lord  Ged  said  :  it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone :  let  us  make  him  a  help  like  unto  him- 
self."f  But  though  all  living  creatures  passed  before 
Adam,  and  he  called  all  their  names,  the  Scriptures  tell 
us:  "But  for  Adam  there  was  not  found  a  helper  like 
himself."^  "Then  the  Lord  God  cast  a  deep  sleep 
upon  Adam :  and  when  he  was  fast  asleep,  he  took  one 
of  his  ribs,  and  filled  up  flesh  for  it.  And  the  Lord 
God  built  the  rib  which  he  took  from  Adam  into  a  wo- 
man ;  and  brought  her  to  Adam.  And  Adam  said : 
This  now  is  bone  of  my  bone,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh  ; 
she  shall  be  called  woman,  because  she  was  taken  out 
of  man.  Wherefore  a  man  shall  leave  father  and  mo- 
ther, and  shall  cleave  to  his  Avifc  :  and  they  shall  be  two 
in  one  flesh. "§  A  third  end  of  marriage  is  indicated  by 
the  Apostle  St.  Paul.||  It  is  a  preventive  against  sin. 
As  God  is  the  author  of  marriage,  it  is  in  its  nature  a 
holy  institution.  But  in  progress  of  time,  it  was  gross- 
ly abused  amongst  the  nations  of  the  earth,  the  family 
society  not  having  been  maintained  in  its  dignity,  and 


*  Gen.  i:  28.  f  Gen.  ii:lb.  J  Gen.  ii:20. 

§Gen.  ii :  21, &c.  From  this  text  it  i<  plain,  that  the  name  given 
by  Adam  to  his  companion,  which  in  English  is  rendered  woman, 
really  Bignified  taken  out  of  man.  The  Latin  uses  the  wont  virago, 
and  the  Hebrew  isschah,  which  l»8t  means  token  Jronj  man,  while 
the  other  has  become  an  English  word,  with  the  meaning  of  he- 
roine, and  also  of  termagant,  or  impudent  female. 
'     ||  1  Cor.  vii:  2. 


286  OP    MATRIMONY. 

woman,  having  been  degraded  from  her  rank  of  com- 
panion to  man,  Avas  no  longer  helu  to  be  his  equal,  but 
rather  the  slave  of  his  passions,  and  hence,  man  no' 
longer  contented  himself,  like  Adam,  with  one  wife,  and 
with  forming  that  mysterious  union  of  "two  in  one  flesh," 
as  Adam,  under  drvine  inspiration,  had  designated 
marriage,  but  he  was  accustomed,  according  to  his  ca- 
prices, to  seek  many  wives,  not  merely  successively,  but 
even  simultaneously.  History  presents  an  awful  pic- 
ture of  the  deplorable  state  of  domestic  society  among 
the  Pagans,  and  the  consequent  demoralization  of  all 
social  institutions.  Among  the  nations,  adultery,  in- 
fanticide, debauchery,  divorce  and  other  crimes  were 
common.  And  c*ven  among  the  Jews,  repudiation,  with 
its  consequent  evil  influence  upon  woman  and  her  off- 
spring, was  tolerated  and,  after  the  period  of  the  Ro- 
man subjugation,  even  frequent. 

The  Redeemer,  in  his  great  work  of  restoration, 
could  not  neglect  giving  his  attention  to  this  institu- 
tion, upon  which  the  individual  man  and  general  socie- 
ty are*  both  entirely  dependent,  and  hence  he  hot  only 
announced  that,  from  the  beginning,  it  was  the  work  of 
God,  but,  in  his  church  and  among  his  followers,  he  el- 
evated it  to  the  dignity  of  a  sacrament,  and  invested  it 
with  supernatural  grace,  that  those  who  entered  into 
this  state,  might  be  able  to  sanctify  themselves,  and 
bring  up,  in  holiness  and  virtue,  the  children,  who  from 
their  union  should  receive  the  gift  of  life.  In  the  cir- 
cle of  the  sacraments,  Matrimony  ranks  as  the  last,  but 
also  touches  the  first,  because  it  is  the  office  of  parents 
to  present,  at  the  fountain  of  regeneration,  the  fruits 
of  a  chaste  and  holy  anion,  that  those  to  whom  they 
give  existence  as  children  of  nature,  may,  by  "  water 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  be  born  again  children  of  God. 

Although  the  church,  instructed  by  Jesus  Christ,  es- 
teems a  state  of  celibacy,  embraced  for  his  sake,  as 
more  excellent  and  perfect  than  that  of  marriage,  she 
it  is,  \vho,,in  pursuance  of  the  purpose  of  the  Saviour, 
has  effected  the  restoration  of  marriage,  by  causing 
Christians  to  entertain  for  it  the  highest  consideration 


OF    MATRIMONY.  287 

and  esteem.  In  her  effort  thus  to  purify  the  domestic 
society,  she  has  conferred  upon  humanity  incalculable 
blessings.  For  she  1ms  continued  to  teach,  that  mar- 
riage is  not  only  holy  as  an  institution  of  God,  but  in- 
calculably more  holy  ;is  a  sacrament  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  persons  should  choose  it  from  holy  motives, 
and  for  a  holy  end.  Hence,  for  the  descendants  of 
those,  who,  with  a  pretence  to  make  a  reformation,  have 
once  more  degraded  marriage,  by  despoiling  it  of  its 
sacramental  dignity,  to  bring  forward  a  groundless  ac- 
cusation against  the  church,  as  if,  by  preferring  the 
state  of  virginity,  she  is  guilty  of  "  forbidding  mar- 
riage," and  consequently  has  inherited  the  predicted 
reproach  of  the  Apostle  as  having  abandoned  the  faith,* 
is  evidently  a  thing  most  absurd  and  calumnious.  It  is 
the  church,  who  has  maintained  the  value  and  sanctity 
of  marriage,  and  secured  its  purity  as  the  necessary 
basis  of  the  whole  social  edifice,  while,  those,  who  re- 
proach her,  have  actually  themselves  succeeded  to  de- 
grade and  pervert  it,  by  representing  it,  even  among 
Christians,  as  no  more  than  a  natural  and  civil  contract, 
and  permitting  men  easily  to  dissolve  its  tie  or  bond, 
against  the  declaration  of  Jesus'  Christ,  that  it  is  Cod  who 
joined  the  parties  together  in  this  society,  and  that  man 
cannot  sever  it,f  and  against  the  express  teaching  of 
the  church,  that? a  Christian  marriage,  validly  contract- 
ed and  consummated,  can  only  be  dissolved  by  death. 

Of  the  Nature  of  Matrimony. 

The  term  Matrimony,  better  than  the  word  marriage, 
shows  the  nature  of  this  institution,  for  as  the  Cate- 
chism of  the  Council  of  Trent  represents  ;  "  It  is  call- 
ed 'matrimony,'  because  the  principal  object  which  a 
female  should  propose  to  herself,  in  marriage,  is  to  be- 
come a  mother."  It  signifies  the  office  of  mother,  ma- 
tris  munu8,  because  it  belongs  to  her  to  bring  forth  and 
train  up  her  offspring.     It  is  called  ivedlock  (conju</ium, 

♦  1  Tim.  iv :  3.       |  Math,  xix  :  6. 


288  OP    MATRIMONY. 

the  common  yoke)  from  the  congugal  union  of  man  and 
wife.  And  it  is  termed  nuptials,  (nuptice)  from  the 
veil,  which  through  modesty  should  cover  the  face  of 
the  bride,  and  which  is  held  to  signify  subjection  to  the 
husband. 

Marriage  may  be  considered  in  a  threefold  light ; 
1st.  as  an  office  of  nature  ;  2ndly,  as  a  civil  contract ; 
and  3dly,  as  a  sacrament.  As  an  office  of  nature,  it  is 
ordained  for  the  procreation  and  conservation  of  the 
human  race.  As  a  civil  contract,  it  consults  the  peace 
and  continuance  of  the  community  and  republic.  As 
a  sacrament,  it  ornaments  the  parties  with  grace,  and 
enriches  the  church  with  a  pious  and  faithful  progeny. 

Considered  as  an  office  of  nature,  it  is  a  natural  con- 
tract, and  is  defined  thus:  "The  conjugal  and  legiti- 
mate union  of  man  and  woman,  which  is  to  last  during 
life."  Thus,  after  the  Justinian  code,  does  the  Roman 
Catechism  represent  it.  But  even  as  a  natural  contract, 
Resulting  from  the  internal  consent  of  the  parties,  exter- 
nally expressed,  and  granting  to  each  other  respectively, 
dominion  over  the  persons,  for  the  end  of  the  union}  it 
does  not  afterwards  depend  merely  upon  the  will  of  the 
parties,  but  upon  the  will  and  law  of  God,  who  is  really 
the  author  of  it,  and  who,  as  the  scriptures  show  us, 
has  subjected  it  to  specified  and  imperious  conditions. 
The  false  and  foolish  things,  which  many  pretended 
philosophers  have  written  about  marriage,  are  predica- 
ted upon  a  misconception  of  its  origin  and  nature. 
From  what  has  been  already  cited  from  Genesis,  we 
see:  1st,  that  marriage  .is  the  society  of  two  persons; 
of  one  man  and  one  woman,  and  therefore  incompati- 
ble with  poligamy.  2dly.  It  is  a  free  and  voluntary 
contract,  in  which  there  is  to  be"a  union  of  minds,  of 
hearts  and  persons.  3dly.  According  to  its  nature  and 
end,  it  is  to  be  an  indissoluble  society  as  far  as  the  pow- 
er of  man  is  concerned,  since  the  married  "are  two  in 
one  flesh,"  and  it  is  not  possible  for  a  man  to  separate* 
from  himself,  although  "  to  God  all  things  are  possible," 
and  it  is  only  in  his  right  and  power  to  dissolve  the 
bond  of  this  society.     4thly.  The  effect  of  this  is  to 


OF   MATRIMONY.  299 

give  to  each  a  right  ovor  the  person  of  the  other,  equal 
to  what  a  man  has  over  himself.  5thly.  The  end  for 
which  this  society  is  formed  is  the  peopling  of  the  earth 
by  the  birth  of  children,  whom  the  parents  are  there- 
fore obliged  to  watch  over,  to  nourish,  and  to  rear  ac- 
cording to  their  need  for  the  conservation  of  body  and 
soul,  and  consequently  to  educate  them  properly.  6th. 
To  this  society  God  gives  his  benediction,  and  he  makes 
the  prosperity  of  families  and  the  welfare  of  general 
society  depend  on  it.  To  the  inviolability  of  this  con- 
tract, is  the  woman  particularly  indebted  for  some  kind 
of  compensation  for  the  greater  burden  imposed  upon 
her  in  respect  to  the  children,  for,  by  it,  is  the  father 
held  to  the  fulfilment  of  his  duties  towards  them,  and, 
by  its  sacred  and  indissoluble  character,  prevented  from 
escaping  the  responsibility,  as  is  often  done  by  men  who 
contemn  the  laws  of  God.  In  deciding,  therefore,  upon 
what  is  opposed  or  conformed  to  the  nature  of  this  so- 
ciety, the  interests  of  the  offspring  must  be  considered, 
as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  parties  themselves,  and 
the  fact  must  always  be  remembered,  that  the  contract 
voluntarily  made  by  the  parties,  is,  by  the  will  of  God, 
constituted  n  tie  or  bond,  which  men  have  no  right  to 
sever.  But  the  heads  of  society,  or  civil  rulers,  have 
always  considered  it  U  right  to  exercise  supervision, 
over  persons  subject  to  their  rule,  as  respects  this  con- 
tract. By  laws,  they  regulate  the  rights  of  fathers, 
mothers,  and  children,  and  the  possession  and  inheri- 
tance of  property  or  goods  pertaining  to  families,  and 
even  as  to  the  civil  effects,  declare  who  shall  be  fit  and 
who  unfit  to  enter  into  the  marriage  contract.  Hence 
marriage  is  said  to  be  not  only  a  natural,  but  also  a 
civil  contract.  It  is  manifest,  however,  that  it  would 
1)0  a  mere  abuse  and  not  a  right,  in  the  civil  authority 
to  enact  auy  law  which  should  conflict  with  the  natural 
and  divine  law  respecting  marriage,  or  contrary  to  the 
great  interests  which  God  intends  to  secure  by  this  in- 
stitution. Hence  tho  civil  government  can  make  ho 
law  which  will  annul  the  natural  contract  and  the  sac- 
rament o£'  Jesus  Christ,  and  can  only  properly  interfere 


■ 

290  OF  MATMSIOHT. 

with  the  civil  effects  and  relations  of  marriage,  in  it* 
legislation. 

If  it  be  asked,  in  what  consists  the  nature  or. essence 
of  marriage,  as  a  natural  and  civil  contract  ?  we  answer 
with  the  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  theo- 
logians commonly,  that  "  although  a  perfect  marriage 
has  all  these  conditions,  viz  :  internal  consent,  external 
assent  expressed  by  words,  the  obligation  and  tie  which 
arise  from  the  contract,  and  the  marriage  debt  by  which 
it  is  consummated ;  yet  the  obligation  and  tie,  express- 
ed by  the  word  '"union,'  alone  have  the  force  and  na-  . 
lure  of  marriage.'*  "  Hence,  it  is  evident,  that  in  that 
tic  consists  marriage.  Some  eminent  divines,  it  is  true, 
say  that  it  consists  in  the  consent,  as  when  they  define 
it :  '  The  consent  of  the  man  and  woman ;'  but  we  are 
to  understand  them  to  mean  that  the  consent  is  tho 
efficient  cause  of  marriage,  which  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Florence ;  because  without 
the  consent  and  contract,  the  obligation  and  tie  cannot 
possibly  exist.  But  it  is  of  absolute  necessity  that  the 
consent  be  expressed  in  words  which  designate  the  pros-  . 
ent  time."f  Words  which  signify  a  marriage  in  future 
time,  can  only  have  the  value  of  a  promise  or  betrothal, 
but  such  a  promise  of  marriage,  with  the  due  qualities  of 
sincere,  mutual,  and  free,  is  obligatory,  and  cannot  be 
violated  -without  a  breach  of  faith.  Though  this  con- 
sent in  the  contract  should  be  expressed  in  words  gene- 
rally, yet  it  may  bo  otherwise  expressed,  as  by  a  nod  or 
some  unequivocal  sign,  or  even  by  silence,  when  it  is 
the  result  of  female  modesty,  the  parents  responding 
for  their  daughter,  and  such  a  consent  may  form  a  valid 
marriage.  To  induce"  the  existence  of  the  tie  and  ob- 
ligation, and  make  a  true  marriage,  the  consummation 
of  it  is  not  necessary. 

Matrimony  is  a  true  Sacrament — Proofs  of  this. 
The  Saviour,  in  forbidding  the  abuses  which  had  oc- 

*  Cat.  Conn.  Trent,  on  the  Sac.  Mairim.  quest.  IV. 
i  Cat.  Coun.  Trent,  on  the  Sac.  Maliim.  quest.  V. 


OF  MATRIMONY.  29^ 

curred,  and  restoring  marriage  to  its  primitive  condition 
as  instituted  by  God,  also  elevated  it  to  the  rank  and 
dignity  of  a  sacrament.  Marriage,  as  a  sacrament, 
may  bo  thus  defined:  In  the  new  law,  matrimony  is  a 
sacrament  instituted  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which, 
to  those  who  receive  it  worthily,  gives  grace  to  sanctify 
them  in  their  state,  to  bring  up  their  children  in  a  Chris- 
tian manner,  and  which  represents  the  Union  of  Jesus 
Christ  with  his  church.  That  it  is  a  true  sacrament,  is 
a  doctrine  of  faith,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  Council  of 
Trent: 

"If  any  one  saith,  that  matrimony  is  not  truly  and 
properly  one  of  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  evangeli- 
cal law  (a  sacrament)  instituted  by  Chri6t  the  Lord;  but 
that  it  has  been  invented  by  men  in  the  ehurch  ;  and 
that  it  does  not  confer  grace  ;  let  him  bo  anathema."* 

And  the  same  council  says :  "  But,  the  grace  which 
might  perfect  that  natural  love,  and  confirm  that  indis- 
soluble union,  and  sanctify  the  married,  Christ  Himself, 
the  institutor  and  per,fecter  of  the  venerable  sacraments, 
merited  for  us  by  His  passion  ;  as  the  Apostle  Paul  in- 
timates, saying:  *  Husbands  love  your  wives,  as  Christ 
also  Joved  the  Church,  and  delivered  Himself  for  it ;' 
adding  shortly  after,  l  This  is  a  great  sacrament,  but  I 
speak  in  Christ  and  in  the  Church.'  (Ephes.  v.  25.  32.) 
Whereas,  therefore  matrimony,  in  the  evangelical  law, 
excels  in  grace,  through  Christ,  the  ancient  marriages ; 
with  reason  have  our  holy  Fathers,  the  Councils,  and 
the  tradition  of  the  universal  church,  always  taught 
that  it  is  to  be  numbered  among  the  sacraments  of  the 
new  law."f 

Christian  Matrimony  has  all  that  can  be  required  to 
constitute  a  sacrament.  1st.  As  a  sensible  sign,  or  ex- 
ternal rite,  the  internal  consent  being  expressed  by 
words,  or  equivalent  signs.  2dly.  As  a  sign  giving, 
sanctifying  grace;  3dly.  As  being  by  Christ  chosen 
and  appointed  for  conferring  grace. 

*  Comic.  Trent.  Sess.  XXIV.  Can.  I. 
I  Sess.  XXIV".     In  coiumeneeoienf. 


292  OF  MATKIMONT. 

1.  That  it  is  an  outward  sensible  sign,  needs  no 
proof. 

2.  The  words  of  the  Apostle  prove  that  it  is  the  sign 
of  a  sacred  thing,  or  a  sign  which  gives  grace.     For 
after  announcing  thus  the  intimate  union. of  those  who 
enter  into  marriage  :  "  For  this  shall  a  man  leave  his- 
father  and  mother  ;  and   shall  cleave  to  his  wife,  and 
they  ahall  be  two  in   one  fleshy"  he  immediately  adds: 
"  This  is  a  great  sacrament :  But  I  speak  in  Christ  and 
in  the  church."*     The  Apostle  is  endeavouring  to  im- 
press, upon  the  Christians  of  Ephesus,   a  correct  idea 
cf  the  nature  of  marriage  and  of  its  duties,  and  com- 
pares the  conjugal  union  to  the  union   of  Jesws  Christ 
with  his  church,  giving  them  to  know  that  this  union  is 
the  model  and  type  of   the  matrimonial  union.     The 
Apostle  does  not  refer  merely  to  the  natural  union,  of 
the  Word  of  God,  with  the  human  nature  effected  in 
the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  but  also  to  the  spiritual 
union,  effected  by  grace  and  charity,  in  which  Christ  es- 
pouses his  church,  cleanses,  and  purifies  the  members  of 
his  church,  and  attaches  them  to  Himself.     Jesus  Christ 
makes  the  church  his  spouse,  by  the  tie  and  bond  of  grace 
and  Ioyc,  and  therefore  matrimony  signifies  also  that 
ineffable  mystic  union,  which,  in  its  perfection,  is  found 
in  the  communion,  when  the  members  of  the  church,  by 
the  holy  Eucharist,  are  made  one  body,  one  flesh,  one 
bone,  with  Jesus  Christ,  as  remarked  by  several  writers 
among  the  early   Christians.     The  more  recent  Com- 
mentator, Estius,  has  the  following  remark :  "  By  thi&, 
that  a  man,  having  left  his  parents,  adheres  to  his  wife, 
and  is  made  one  flesh  with  her,  is  mystically  signified, 
that  the  Son  of  God  descended  to  earth  from  the  bosom 
of  liia  Father,  as  if  having  left  him,  that  he  might  be 
united  to  the  church,  and  by  the   Incarnation  be  made 
one  body  with  her."f      The  natural    marriage  then  is 
chosen  to  be  the  symbol,  sign,  and  image  of  the  mystic 
marriage  of  Jesus  Christ  with  his  church,  or  with  hu- 


*  Epkes.  v.  32.     t  In  IV.  dist.  26  §  5. 


Ofe   MATRIMONY.  •  293 

man  nature  regenerated  and  sanctified.  The  Apostle 
says :  "  Husbands  love  your  wives  as  Chri&  also  loved 
the  chnrch>  and  delivered  himself  up  for  it:  that  he 
might  sanctify  it,  cleansing  it  by  the  laver  of  water  in 
the  word  of  life,  that  he  might  present  it  to  himself  a 
glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing,  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish.* 
But  sucli  a  union  as  this,  of  Christ  with  his  church, 
cannot  properly  and  perfectly  be  signified  by  a  mere 
natural  marriage,  but  only  by  a  marriage  "in  Christ 
and  in  the  church,"  which  is  itself  a  mystery  or  sacra- 
ment, and  is  enriched  and  enobled  by  the  grace  of  God. 
There  must  be  a  spiritual  union  of  souls,  a  holy  bond 
of  charity,  after  the  example  of  the  intimate  and  un- 
changeable love  of  Christ  for  his  church,  to  make  a 
marriage  a  fit  and  perfect  sign  or  symbol  of  the  mystic 
marriage  of  Jesus  Christ.  Husbands  must  "  love  their 
wives  as  Christ  does  the  church,"  and  "as  the  church 
is  subject  to  Christ,  so  let  wive6  be  to  their  husbands  in 
all  things. "f  Consequently,  in  such  a  marriage,  which 
is  a  religious  and  sacred  sign,  grace  must  be  bestowed  in 
order  to  perfect  and  eleva-te  natural  love  and  sanctify 
the  parties,  since  "  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife: 
as  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  church,"!  and  as  Christ  is 
the  head  of  the  church  through  grace  and  love,  and 
cherishes  her  with  the  most  holy,  pure  and  unalterable 
affection,  so  must  the  husband  be  head,  not  merely  by 
a  natural  contract  or- from  natural  love,  but  by  means 
©f  a  more  sacred  and  inviolable  tie,  which,  being  a  re- 
ligious mystery,  is  blessed  with  the  power  to  give  the 
necessary  sacramental  grace. 

Other  texts  of  the  scriptures  indicate  that  grace  is 
annexed  to  matrimony  among  Christians.  When  St. 
Paul  says  :  "  Wives  be  subject  to  your  husbands,  as  it 
behoveth  in  the  Lord,"§  or  as  is  becoming  in  the  Lord, 
he  evidently  enjoins  upon  them  a  conduct  especially  re- 
quired from  tkem  as  Christian  wives.  Maldonatus  re- 
marks: "  This  phrase  in  the  Greek  has  this  sense:  as 


*  JEphes.  v.  25,  &c.    fXbid  v.  24.     J  Ibid  23.    §CoL  iii.  15. 


294   •  OP    HATMMONY. 

becomes  women,  who  have  contracted  marriage,  not  as 
do  the  Pagans,  but  in  the  Lord,  that  is,  with  due  cere- 
mony, holily,  sacramentally."*  Writing  to  Timothy, 
the  same  Apostle  declares,  that  "  the  woman  shall  be 
saved  through  child-bearing:  if  she  continue  in  faith, 
and  love,  and  sanctificationwith  sobriety."f  He  gives 
this  assurance  to  the  Christian  wife,  who,  persevering  in 
faith,  fulfils  her  duty  as  mother,  bringing  up'  her  chil- 
dren for  God,  and  thereby  he  insinuates  that  graco  is 
attached  to  the  bond  and  state  of  marriage.  The  holy 
and  strict  union  required  from  Christians,  that  their 
marriage  may  be  a  sign  of  the  union  of  Jesus  Christ 
with  his  church,  requires  the  assistance  of  God's  grace, 
•which  is  therefore  given  to  them;  for  "every  one," 
■writes  St.  Paul,  "hath  his  proper  gift  from  God  ;  one 
after  this  manner,  another  after  that, "J  and  as  he  de- 
clares this  while  speaking  of  the  two  states  of  life, 
that  of  celibacy  and  that  of  marriage,  we  must  conclude 
that  married  persons  have  their  "  proper  gift"  or  grace, 
especially  as  he  says:  "  the  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified by  the  believing  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is 
sanctified  by  the  believing  husband,  otherwise  your 
children  should  be  unclean ;  now  they  are  holy."§ 
"What  is  the  proper  gift  of  the  married,  if  they  have 
not  that  of  grace  to  render  their  union  holy,  and  how 
can  the  children  be  termed  holy  in  any  other  sense,  but 
because  they  are  the  fruit  of  a  union  that  is  holy? 

The  church  and  the  fathers  are  very  clear  and  ex- 
press in  setting  forth  the  doctrine  that,  in  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ,  marriage  is  a  true  sacrament. 

3.  But  that  matrimony  should  be  a  sign  of  a  sacred 
thing,  or  a  sensible  sign  .giving  grace,  can  only  have 
resulted  from  the  will  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  elevated  it 
to  this  dignity.  He  therefore  instituted  the  sacrament 
of  Matrimony.  It  is  commonly  believed,  that  he  gave 
to  it  this  dignity,  when,  by  his  presence,  he  honoured 
the  marriage   of  Cana  in  Gallilee,  as   St.  Epiphanius, 

•Maid.  V.  Cap.  TV.  Sontent.  p.  428.  1 1-  Tim.ii.  15.  J  1.  Cor. 
via.  7.     i  Ibid,  \ii.  1-1. 


OF    MATRIMONY.  295 

User.  G7,  St.  Maximus,  Horn.  1,  in  Epiph.,  St.  Augus* 
tine,  tract  9,  in  Joan,  St.  Cyril,  Ep.  ad  Nestor,  also 
represent  this  to  be  their  opinion. 

Those  marriages,  which  are  contracted  between  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  in  accordance  with  her  laws  and 
ceremonies,  are  assuredly  sacramental.  Unbaptized  per- 
sons, when  married,  make  only  a  natural  and  civil  con- 
tract, and  if  they  should  be  converted  to  the  faith  and 
received  into  the  church,  their  marriage  is  valid,  even 
although  it  is  not  a  sacrament;  but  the  probable  opin- 
ion is  that  it  may  become  a  sacrament  by  the  renewal 
of  their  consent. 

It  is  the  more  common  opinion,  that  a  marriage  be- 
tween a  Catholic  and  an  unbaptized  person,  with  the 
required  dispensation  from  the  impediment  of  disparity 
of  religion,  is  not  properly  a  sacrament  for  the  Catho- 
lic party,  the  contract  being  between  two  the  sacra- 
ment ought  to  be  also  in  two,  but  one  of  them,  the  un- 
baptized person,  is  not  capable  of  the  sacrament,  be- 
cause not  baptized  ;  they  can  then  only  make  a  natural 
and  civil  contract,  but  not  a  sacramental  one,  yet  some 
theologians  affirm  that  the  baptized  party  does  receivo 
the  grace  of  the  sacrament.  The  church,  however,  only 
tolerates,  and  docs  not  approve  such  marriages.  Tho 
dispensation  is  given  with  necessary  precautions  against 
the  peril  of  perversion  from  the  faith.  And  as  it  is  not 
only  doubtful  whether  the  Catholic  party  receives  sac- 
ramental grace,  in  a  union  of  marriage  with  an  unbap- 
tized person,  but  even  probable  that  he  does  not,  those  who 
care  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls  and  for  eternal  be- 
atitude, will  hesitate  to  form  such  alliances.  Such  mar- 
riages, Without  a  dispensation,  are  null  by  ecclesiastical 
law,  based  most  probably  on  the  natural  law. 

The  marriage  of  a  Catholic  with  a  non-Catholic  who 
is  baptized  is  unlawful,  without  a  dispensation,  but  it 
would  be  valid  and  binding,  when  legitimately  contract- 
ed, if  no  other  impediment  be  in  the  way.  Yet,  in  such 
marriages,  there  is  always  some  danger  for  the  faith 
and  salvation  of  the  Catholic,  and  for  the  Salvation  of 
the   offspring,   and   a  probability  of    discord   because 


296  OF    MATRIMONY. 

of  difference  of  religion.  "  How,"  asks  St.  Ambrose, 
"can  charity  coalesce  if  faith  be  discordant?  Reason 
teaches,  but  oftener  examples  affect  us  more.  Often 
have  the  wiles  of  women  deceived  the  firmest  husbands, 
and  caused  them  to  abandon  their  religion  ;  and  there- 
fore either  do  you  take  care  of  your  love,  or  beware  of 
error.  In  marriage  then,  the  first  requisite  is  reli- 
gion."* 

Some  theologians  have  entertained  a  doubt  whether 
a  marriage  entered  into  by  proxy  is  a  sacrament.  But 
the  common  opinion  appears  to  be  that  such  contracts 
may  not  only  be  true  and  legitimate  marriages,  but 
even  sacraments,  if- all  required  conditions  have  been 
complied  with.  Many  royal  and  princely  marriages 
have  been  made  in  this  manner.  It  does  not  appear 
that  the  law  of  the  church,  which  for  a  marriage  re- 
quires the  consent  of  the  parties  in  words  in  the  pres- 
ent, has  required  physical  presence  and  consent,  and 
therefore  a  presence  and  consent,  by  a  legitimately  au- 
thorized proxy,  will  suffice. 

Of  the  Matter,  Form,  and  Minister  of  Matrimony. 

"We  do  not  find  that  the  church  has  any  where  ex- 
pressly defined,  what  are  the  precise  matter  and  form  of 
this  sacrament,  or  who  is  to  be  held  as  the  minister, 
and  therefore  theologians,  in  their  disquisitions  on  the 
subject,  have  gone  into  different  opinions.  It  is  cer-. 
tain,  that  in  marriage,  the  sacrament  cannot  exist  with- 
out the  contract,  which  is  the  basis  and  foundation  of 
the  sacrament.  For  the  sacrament  of  marriage,  there- 
fore, it  is  indispensable  that  the  parties  should  be  capa- 
ble of  making  the  contract,  and  that  this  contract 
should  possess  the  conditions  required  for  the  validity 
of  contracts.  The  essence  of  the  contract  is  the  con- 
sent of  those  who  make  it,  which  must  not  be  fictitious 
but  real,  which  must  be  interior  and  manifested  exteri- 
orly, reciprocal,  and  given  freely  on  both  sides.     But 

*  St.  Amb.lib.  2  de  Abraham.  Cap.  IX. 


OF    MATRIMONY.  297 

even  a  legitimate  contract,  which  may  suffice  for  a  true 
legitimate  marriage  is  not  enough  for  the  sacrament  of 
matrimony,  because  the  parties  must  be  baptized  per- 
sons to  be  capable  of  receiving  the  sacrament.  Among 
the  unbaptiied,  as  Jews  and  Pagans,  marriage  may  be 
valid  as  a  contract,  and  yet  it  is  not  a  sacrament,  un- 
less in  an  improper  and  restricted  sense,  as  a  mere  sign 
of  the  union  of  Jesus  Christ  with  the  human  nature,  but 
not  as  a  sign  which  confers  grace.  Some  have  asked 
whether  in  Christian  marriages,  contracted  by  baptized 
persons,  the  matrimony  can  be  valid  as  a  contract,  and 
not  at  the  same  time  be  a  sacrament?  Vasquez,  Syl- 
vius, and  other  theologians,  have  defended  the  opinion 
that  such  marriages  might  be  valid  merely  as  a  contract 
without  being. a  sacrament.  But  in  his  Encyclical,  of 
the  27th  September,  1852,  Pope  Pius  IX,  noticing  the 
evils" afflicting  the  church  in  New  Granada,  because  of 
certain  raeasures'of  those  who  were  in  power  there,  de- 
cides against  this  opinion.  He  says  :  "  We  say  noth- 
ing concerning  that  other  decree,  by  which,  the  myste- 
ry of  the  sacrament  of  marriage,  its  dignity  and  sanc- 
tity altogether  despised,  its  institution  and  nature  ut- 
terly ignored  and  subverted,  and  the  power  of  the 
church  over  the  same  sacrament  contemned,  it  was  pro- 
posed, according  to  the  already  condemned  errors  of 
heretics,  and  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
church,  that  matrimony  should  be  held  as  only  a  civil 
contract,  and  in  various  cases  divorce  properly  so  call- 
ed should  be  sanctioned,  and  all  matrimonial  causes 
placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  lay  tribunals,  and 
be  judged  by  them ;  when  no  Catholic  is  ignorant,  or 
can  be  ignorant,  that  matrimony  is  one  of  the  seven 
sacraments  instituted  by  Christ  the  Lord,  and,  there- 
fore, that  aviong  the  faithful  there  cannot  he  matrimony 
without  its  being  at  the  same  time  a  sacrament,  and 
consequently  any  other  conjunction  of  man  and  woman 
among  Christians,  except  the  sacrament,  and  even  made 
by  the  force  of  whatever  civil  law,  is  nothing  else  than 
a  shameful  and  ruinous  concubinage  so  earnestly  con- 
demned by^the  church,  and  hence,  the  sacrament  can 


298  OF    MATRIMONY. 

never  be  separated  from  the  conjugal  tie,  and  it  entire- 
ly belongs  to  the  power  of  the  church  to  determine  all 
those  things,  which  can  in  any  manner  pertain  to  the  same 
matrimony."  From  this  declaration  of  the  Holy  Fa- 
ther it  may  be  concluded,  that  true  and  legitimate  mar- 
riages between  baptized  persons  not  of  the  church,  are 
also  sacraments,  when  no  other  impediment  exists  to 
render  such  marriages  null.  The  fact,  that  those  con- 
verted to  the  church  are  not  required  to  make  a  renew- 
al of  their  consent,  when  they  had,  before  their  conver- 
sion, validly  contracted  matrimony,  is  in  accordance 
with  this  conclusion. 

The  greatest  number  of  theologians  arc  of  opinion 
that  the  legitimate  contract  between  the  parties  to  a 
marriage  expressed  in  the  present,  at  the  same  time  in- 
cludes both  the  matter  and  the  form  of  this  sacrament, 
although  they  do  not  all  explain  this  in  the  same  way. 
Some  represent  that  the  matter  is  found,  in  the  tradi- 
tion of  power  over  each  other  which  the  two  parties 
mutually  give,  and  the  form,  in  the  mutual  acceptance 
of  this  power  which  they  make;  while  others  represent 
that  the  matter  consists  in  the  words  expressing  the 
contract  considered  as  a  sign  addressed  to  the  senses, 
and  the  form  in  the  words  of  the  contract  considered 
in  their  meaning,  or  the  words  expressing  the  tradition 
of  power  as  matter,  and  the  words  expressing  the  ac- 
ceptance as  form.  Those  who  entertain  these  opinions, 
which  place  the  matter  and  form  in  the  contract,  also  con- 
sider that  the  contracting  parties  are  the  true  ministers 
of  this  sacrament,  because  they  believe  that  matrimony 
was  constituted  a  sacrament,  by  the  Saviour  elevating 
the  true  legitimate  union  of  man  and  woman,  as  it  was 
designed  by  God  in  the  beginning,  to  the  dignity  of  a 
sacrament  in  his  church,  by  attaching  to  this  union  a 
particular  grace,  which  it  did  not  before  possess,  a 
grace,  which  sanctifies  the  natural  love  of  the  parties 
an  1  the  parties  themselves. 

The  Council  of  Florence  identifies  the  contract  with 
the  sacrament  in  Christian  marriages,  and  appears  to 
justify  the  belief  that  the  parties  contracting  are  the 


OF    MATRIMONY.  299 

ministers.  It  says  :  "  The  seventh  is  the  sacrament  of 
Matrimony,  which  according  to  the  Apostle  is  the  sign 
of  the  conjunction  of  Christ  with  the  church ;  the  effi- 
cient cause  of  matrimony  regularly  is  the  mutual  con- 
sent expressed  by  words  in  the  present."* 

Other  theologians,  and  many  of  whom  are  of  great 
reputation,  following  the  views  first  put  forward  by  the 
distinguished  theologian,  Melchior  Cano,  maintain  that 
the  priest  is  the  proper  minister  of  this  sacrament  as  of 
other  sacraments,  and  that  the  matter  thereof  is  in  the 
contract, ;  and  the  form  in  the  benediction  given  by  the 
priest,  who,  in  officiating  uses  the  words:  Ego  conjungo 
vos,  &c.  "  I  conjoin  you  in  matrimony  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Amen."  But  as  tho  Council  of  Trent  admits  that 
"  other  words,  according  to  the  received  rite  of  each 
province,"  may  be  used,  and  does  not  declare  these  par- 
ticular words  to  be  essential,  no  conclusive  argument 
can  be  deduced  from  them  in  favour  of  this  opinion. 
The  advocates  of  the  opinion  that  the  priest  is  the  min- 
ister, bring  forward  many  reasons  of  a  certain  value, 
but  none  which  can  prevail  to  set  aside  the  more  com- 
mon sentiment  which  we  have  before  exposed,  and  which 
also  appears  to  have  been  the  view  held  at  all  times  in 
the  church,  before  the  days  of  Cano.  The  decision  of 
the  Pope  that,  in  Christian  marriages,  the  contract  can- 
not be  separated  from  the  sacrament,  is  also  a  solid 
support  to  this  opinion,  and  must  greatly  puzzle  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  other,  if  not  render  it  altogether  inde- 
fensible. 

To  the  faithful  generally,  this  question  can  be  of  but 
little  practical  importance,  except  in  very  extraordinary 
circumstances,  however  much  it  may  interest  theologi- 
ans, because  it  is  certain  that  wherever  the  decree  of 
the  Council  of  Trent  concerning  clandestine  marriages 
has  been  published  as  required  in  the  decree,  and  wher- 
ever it  is  in  force,  the  presence  of  the  pastor,  or  of  a 
priest  properly  delegated  by  the  bishop  or  pastor,  and 

*  In  Decrete,  §  Septim. 


300  OF    MATRIMONY. 

of  two  or  three  witnesses,  is  indispensably  necessary  to 
render  a  marriage  valid.  The  council  declares  the  par- 
ties  incapable  of  contracting  marriage,  and  pronounces 
the  contract  null  and  invalid,  without  this  requirement 
shall  have  been  complied  with.  It  is  also  certain,  and 
even  is  very  evident  from  the  fact  of  the  church  mak- 
ing this  decree,  that  even  where  the  said  decree  has 
not  been'  published,  it  is  the  desire  and  intention  of  the 
church  that  Christian  marriages  should  take  place  in 
the  manner  required  in  the  decree,  and  that  if  this  be 
not  done.  Buch  marriages  are  unlawful  and  highly  crim- 
inal, though  they  be  not  therefore  invalid.  But  if  they 
are  criminal,  those  thus  marrying  do  not  receive  grace, 
but  commit  :i  sacrilege.  For  the  preventing  of  impru- 
dent and  sinful  marriages,  or  such  as  are  contracted 
without  consent  of  parents,  which  marriages,  the  Coun- 
cil >ay>.  u  the  chureh  has  always  detested  and  prohibi- 
ted," it  has  made  this  decree,  requiring  a  proclamation 
of  bans,  for  three  consecutive  Sundays  or  festival 
days,  during  the  solemnization  of  mass,  and  also  the 
presence  of  the  pastor,  or  an  authorized  priest  with  two 
or   three  witl  But  from    the   first  days   of  the 

church,  it  has  always  been  the  usage  for  the  pries!  <>r 
the  bishop  to  intervene  at  the  marriages  of  the  faith- 
ful, and  with  the  prescribed  riti  s  and  prayers  to  bestow 
the  benediction  of  the  church  upon  them. 

The  celebrated  commentator  on  English  law,  Black- 
le,  on  the  incorrect  authority  of  Moore,  to  whom  he 
refers,  states,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Commentaries, 
p.  44U.  that  "the  intervention  of  a  priest  to  solemnize 
this  contract  (marriage)  is  merely  juris  positfti.  and  not 
juris  7iuturalis  aut  <livt?ii:  it  being  said  that  Pope  In- 
nocent III.  was  the#first  to  ordain  the  celebration  of 
marriage  in  the  church  ;  before  which  it  was  totally  a 
civil  contract."  The  falsehood  of  this  last  assertion 
that  it  was  only  a  civil  contract,  is  apparent  from  what 
we  have  already  proved,  viz:  that  matrimony  was  made 
ameijt  in  Christ  and  in  the  church,"  and 
also  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  it  has  been  continu- 
ally from  the  beginning  maintained  to  be  a  sacrament, 


OF    MATRIMONY.  SOI 

not  only  in  the  Western  or  Latin  church,  but  among 
the  Greeks  as  well,  and  even  among  all  the  oriental 
sects  who  had  separated  from  the  church  in  the  East, 
except  by  those  heretics  who  erred  concerning  mar- 
riage, as  foretold  by  St.  Paul.  It  is  also  false  to  rep- 
resent that  "the  intervention  of  the  priest  to  solemnize 
marriage"  began  under  Pope  Innocent  III,  since  the 
action  of  the  fourth  Council  of  Lateran  and  of  Pope 
Innocent  III,  chiefly  regarded  "  the  publication  of 
bans,"  against  secret  marriages.  "In  the  progress  of 
time,"  says  Chardon,  in  his  history  of  the  sacraments, 
"  the  church  having  thought  proper,  under  pain  of  nul- 
lity, to  prohibit  marriage  to  certain  persons  in  the  Lat- 
in church ;  a  custom  prevailed  of  announcing  at  the 
Parochial  mass,  the  future  marriages  of  Christians,  in 
order  to  discover  if  the  parties  were  subject  to  any  of 
the  canonical  prohibitions.  This  custom,  which  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  ever  in  use  in  the  Greek  church, 
was  received  and  observed  in  different  pf%>f5nces  of  Eu- 
rope. Cujas  says  that  it  was  one  of  very  common  ob- 
servance in  England.  Innocent  III.  recognized  that  it 
was  thus  practiced  in  the  diocese  of  Bcauvais,  in  France. 
We  find  vestiges  of  it  in  the  synodal  ordinances  of  Eu- 
des  de  Sulli,  bishop  of  Paris,  towards  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century.  This  custom  of  France  and  England 
was  found  so  wise,  and  so  prudently  established,  that 
it  was  approved  by  Pope  Innocent  III.  in  the  fourth 
Council  of  Lateran  in  1215.*  This  Pope,  by  a  gene- 
ral law,  caused  it  to  be  extended  to  the  whole  Latin 
church,  since  which  time  all  the  faithful  were  obliged 
to  observe  it  in  the  West.  It  was  ordained  in  this  as- 
semby  that  pastors  should,  in  the  church,  publish  the 
future  marriages  of  their  parishioners,  but  the  days 
and  number  of  times  for  such  publications  were  not 
specified. "f  This  seems  to  be  sufficient  to  give  an  in- 
sight into  the  cause  of  Blackstone's  incorrect  assertion ; 
either  he  or  Moore  did  not  carefully  examine  the  action 
of  the  Council  of  Lateran.     The  fact  that  even  the 

*  Cum  in  Tua.         t  Hist.  Dos  Sacraments.  Mar.  ch-  2d,  Art.  I. 


302  OF    MATRIMONY. 

promise  of  marriage,  the  betrothal,  was  itself,  in  the 
early  days  of  Christianity,  a  religious  ceremony  dis- 
proves his  assertions.  This  ceremony  was  generally 
followed  by  a  contract  consigned  to  what  was  termed 
matrimonial  tables,  and  which  contained  the  conditions 
under  which  the  parties  reciprocally  engaged  them- 
selves, and  also  the  conditions  on  which  parents  gave 
their  consent,  the  parties  and  assistants  signed  these 
tables,  and  the  bishop  as  the  common  father  of  the 
faithful  subscribed  his  name  and  approbation,  "  istis  ta- 
bulis  subscripsit  episcopus"  says  St.  Augustine.  The 
writer  of  Les  Conferences  d' Angers  tells  us,  that  when 
persons  were  about  to  be  married,  they  went  to  ask  the 
benediction  of  the  church,  upon  this  contract,  from  the 
earliest  days  of  Christianity.  "  The  men  applied  to 
the  deacons,  the  women  to  the  deaconesses,  in  order  to 
propose  their  marriage  to  the  bishop,  and  know  if  he 
would  approve  them."  It  is  his  opinion,  that  to  theso 
mediators  of  tJ^arriagc  it  was,  that  Tertullian  refers 
when  he  speaks  of  the  consiliarii  nuptiaruni. 

St.  Ignatius,  Martyr,  and  a  disciple  of  St.  Polycarp, 
declares:  "It  is  proper  for  men  and  women  who  mar- 
ry, to  enter  into  this  alliance  according  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  bishop,  to  the  end  that  marriage  may  be 
according  to  the  Lord,  and  may  not  proceed  from  the 
principle  of  cupidity."  Tertullian,  in  his  second  book 
addressed  to  his  wife,  developes  the  discipline  of  tho 
church  on  this  subject,  saying  that  the  marriage  is  hap- 
py which  is  made  by  the  mediation  of  the  church. 
"  Happy  marriage,  which  the  church  joins  together, 
which  the  oblation  confirms,  and  being  sealed  the  an- 
gels proclaim."  His  stating  that  the  "  oblation  con- 
firms marriage"  proves  the  custom  to  offer  the  holy 
sacrifice  on  the  occasion  of  marriage,  or  that  the  par- 
ties were  united  at  the  mass,  and  that  the  faithful  then 
made  their  offerings.  This  Father  even  seems  to  go  so 
far  as  to  declare  that  they  were  in  peril  of  being  judged 
as  sinful,  and  not  nuptials,  unless  first  professed  before 
the  churdh. 

The  Fathers  often  mention  the  nuptial  benediction 


OP    MATRIMONY.  303 

as  a  rite  of  religion.  Pope  Sirieius,  in  his  decretal  to 
Himerius  (cited  by  Chardon),  uses  these  words  :  "  It  is 
a  sacrilege  among  Christians,  by  any  transgression  to 
violate  that  benediction,  which  .she,  who  marries,  re- 
ceives from  the  priest." 

St.  Ambrose,  in  Ep.  LXX,  says  that  marriage  ought 
to  be  sanctified  by  the  sacerdotal  benediction.  The 
fourth  Council  of  Carthage  makes  regulations  regard- 
ing marriage.  Ives  of  Chartres,  and  Gratian,  refer  to 
a  decree  of  Pope  Hormisdas,  forbidding  secret  mar- 
riages. 

In  a  manuscript  of  the  year  900,  from  the  monastery 
of  Gellonius,  which  contains  the  missal  of  Pope  Gela- 
sius,  may  be  seen  the  pra/ers  usually  said  at  the  cele- 
bration of  marriages.  It  was  so  customary  for  the  min- 
ister of  religion  to  intervene  at  marriages,  both  in  the 
Eastern  and  Western  church, .  that  clandestine  mar- 
riages contracted,  without  the  sacerdotal  benediction, 
in  the  esteem  of  many  were  considered  null.  Leo,  the 
Philosopher,  Alexis  Commenes,  and  Basil  the  Macedo- 
nian, all  enacted  laws  setting  forth  the  necessity,  for  all 
persons  entering  into  the  marriage  contract,  to  procure 
tho  benediction  of  the  priest.  The  kings  of  France 
made  similar  laws. 

Some  began  to  grow  remiss  in  applying  for  the  reli- 
gious rites  of  marriage,  because  of  the  answer  which 
Pope  Nicholas  the  First  gave  to  the  Bulgarians,  say- 
ing, after  mentioningthe  rites,  "  But  we  do  not  say  that 
it  is  a  sin  if  all  these  things  are  not  found  to  intervene 
in  the  nuptial  bond."  Certain  persons  relied  on  this 
as  authority  for  deciding  that  "  the  consent  of  parents 
and  the  sacerdotal  benediction"  were  not  necessary, 
and  consequently  that  marriages  without  these,  called 
clandestine  marriages,  were  valid.  The  fourth  Coun- 
cil of  Lateran  desired  to  repress  this  abuse  of  secret 
marriages,  and  therefore  passed  the  law  to  which  we 
have  before  referred. 

But  although  Pope  Nicholas  declared  that  all  the 
matrimonial  rites,  ha'c  cuncta,  are  not  required  to  bo 
observed  under  penalty  of  sin,  he  certainly  did  not  in- 


304  OF    MATRIMONY. 

tend  to  represent  that  the  intervention  of  the  .priest 
might  be  dispensed  with,  as  there  had  been  no  decision 
as  to  who  is  minister  of  this  sacrament,  and  moreover 
in  his  said  reply  to  the  Bulgarians,  he  writes  thus  con- 
cerning the  usage  of  those  who  get  married  : "  "  They 
conduct  them  to  the  church  with  the  offerings  which 
they  make  to  the  Lord,  by  the  hands  of  the  priest,  and 

also  receive  the  benediction  and  the  celestial  veil 

After  this,  having  gone  out  of  the  church,  they  carry 
on  their  heads  crowns,  which  it  is  the  custom  to  reserve 
in  the  church."  The  same  thing  is  evident  from  tho 
ancient  rituals  and  sacramentaries,  in  which  are  found 
prayers  and  ceremonies  for  the  celebration  of  Christian 
marriages,  which  were,  in  alJ  parts  of  Christendom,  con- 
secrated by  religion,  as  at  all  times  the  church  and  her 
members  believed  marriage  to  be  a  sacrament. 

The  Properties  of  Marriage. 

"\Vc  shall  briefly  call  attention  to  two  chief  proper- 
ties of  marriage,  viz :  its  unity,  and  its  indissolubility. 

Of  the  Unity  of  Marriage. 

By  the  unity  of  marriage  is  signified  that  it  is  the 
society  of  one  man  and  one  woman.  This  unity  may 
be  opposed  in  two  ways,  either  by  successive,  or  by  si- 
multaneous polyandry  or  polygamy.  For  polyandry, 
strictly  considered,  even  the  Pagans  had  a  horror,  and 
certainly  at  no  time  has  it  been  tolerated,  at  least 
among  those  who  called  themselves  Christians,  as  a 
tiling  lawful  for  a  woman  to  have  a  plurality  of  hus- 
bands at  the  same  time.  As  to  that  polyandry  which 
is  successive,  women  have  possessed  the  same  privilege 
as  have  men  for  successive  polygamy.  The  belief  of 
Christians,  that  marriage  is  the  sign  of  the  alliance  of 
Christ  with  his  church,  caused  them,  in  the  first  ages,  to 
regard  second  and  other  nuptials  with  disapprobation, 
and,  in  parts  of  the  church,  penances  were  imposed 
upon  those  who  formed  such  marriages.     Certain  here- 


OP    MATRIMONY.  305 

tics,  as  the  Montanists  and  Novatians,  taught  that  they 
are  sinful.  But  the  church  never  declared  them  unlaw- 
ful, since  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  expressly  allows  them.* 
The  Council  of  Nice  required  from  those  Novatians, 
who  were  admitted  back  into  the  church,  to  promise 
that  they  would  commune  with  such  as  had  entered  into 
second  marriages,  proving  that  the  church  considered 
them  lawful. f  And  Pope  Eugene  IV,  and  the  Coun- 
cil of  Florence  say:  "We  declare  that  not  only  second 
marriages  are  lawful,  but  even  third,  fourth,  and  ulte- 
rior marriages  can  be  licitly  contracted,  if  no  impedi- 
ment prevents." 

Simultaneous  polygamy  under  the  religion  of  tho 
gospel  is  forbidden  by  the  divine  law.  This  is  of  Faith. 
Tho  Council  of  Trent  declares :  "  If  any  one  saith, 
that  it  is  lawful  for  Christians  to  have  several  wives  at 
tho  samp  time,  and  tha*  this  is  not  prohibited  by  any 
divine  law;  let  him  be  anathema. "|  This  declaration 
is  sustained  by  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  as  reported 
in  the  gospel  of  St.  Mathew,  where,  in  answer  to  tho 
question  of  the  Pharisees:  "Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to 
put  away  his  wife  for  every  cause,"  he  replied:  "Have 
you  not  read  that  he  who  made  man  from  the  beginning 
made  them  male  and  female  ?  And  he  saicl :  for  this 
cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  shall 
cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  in  oneflesh."§ 
Thus  does  the  Saviour  recall  marriage  to  its  primitive 
design,  as  the  conjunction  of  one  man  and  one  woman, 
for  it  is  two,  and  not  more,  who,  by  God's  will,  are  con» 
stituted  one  flesh.  This  is  also  well  expressed  in  the 
declaration  of  the  fathers  of  Trent:  "But,  that  by  this 
bond  two  only  are  united  and  joined  together,  our  Lord 
taught  more  plainly,  when  rehearsing  those  last  words 
as  having  been  uttered  by  God,  He  said,  therefore  now 
they  are  not  two,  but  one  flesh."\\  The  transfer  of 
right,  as  set  forth  by  St.  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  vii,  also  shows 


*  Rom.  vii.      1  Cor.  vii:  39,  et  ibid,  S,  9.  f  Counc.  Niran.  I 

Can.  VIII.         %  Conn.  Trent.  Sess,  XXIV.  Can.  II.        §  Math,  xix 
3,  4,  0.        H  Sess.  XXIV.  on  the  Doc.  of  the  Sac.  of  Matrimony. 


306  OF    MATRIMONY. 

the  necessity  of  this  unity,  because  to  each  is  given 
the  whole  right  over  the  other,  and  no  third  party  can 
come  in  without  a  violation  of  justice.  "  It  is  not  law- 
ful for  thee,"  writes  St.  Ambrose,  w'to  marry  another 
while  your  wife  is  living ;  to  seek  another  while  you 
have  your  own  is  the  crime  of  adultery."*  St.  Jerome 
commenting  on  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  St.  Mathcw, 
says  a  husband  cannot  dismiss  an  adulterous  wife  ex- 
cept on  the  condition  of  "  not  having  another  while  the 
first  is  living."f  "  To  leave  a  barren  wife,  t©  marry  one 
who  is  prolific,  is  wicked,  and  if  any  one  shall  do  so . . . 
by  the  law  of  the  gospel,  he  is  guilty  of  adultery.  "J 
Pope  Nicholas  I.  says:  "Neitfier  does  the  origin  itself 
of  the  human  condition  allow,  nor  any  law  of  Chris- 
tians permit  the  having  of  two  wives  at  the  same  time."§ 
This  is  the  law  of  the  gospel,  binding  on  Christians, 
and  to  them  it  can  be  of  no  importance,  except  as  a 
mere  subject  of  information,  to  inquire  whether  or  not 
polygamy  is  prohibited  by  the  primary  or  the  seconda- 
ry precepts  of  the  natural  law,  and  is  clearly  reproba- 
ted by  reason  itself,  or  whether  that  of  the  Patriarchs 
took  place  by  a  dispensation  of  God,  or  if  no  such  dis- 
pensation was  given  or  ever  was  necessary,  for,  since 
the  promulgation  of  the  gospel,  this  law  prohibits  it  to 
all  who  are,  or  ought  to  be  Christians,  and  even  to  the 
Pagang  or  infidels  also,  as  they  are  subject  to  the  au- 
thority of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  supreme  lawgiver 
and  sovereign  of  all  men  without  distinction.  If  these 
last  have  had  no  chance  to  know  his  law,  they  may  plead 
the  excuse  of  invincible  ignorance. 

Of  the  Indissolubility  of  Marriage — of  Divorce. 

To  .understand  the  doctrine  of  the  church  on  the 

*  St.  Amb.  lib.  i,  tie  Abraham,  oh.  vii.  f  St.  Jerom.  in  Math, 

jdx.      '  £  St.  Aug.  tie  Nup   et  Concu.  Cap.  X. 

§  Ad  Cods  Bulgsr.  Cap.  LI.  The  fact  that  Luther  gave  the  per- 
mission to'Philip,  Lamigrave  of  Hesse,  to  marry  two  wives  at  the 
same  time,  is  well  authenticated.  It  is  said  that  the  Landgrave 
promised  him  the  spoils  of  the  monasteries  as  a  consideration.  Sea 
Bonnet's  History  of  the  Variati-ons,  and  Spalding's  Hist.  Kef, 


OF    MATRIMONY.  307 

si."  j->ct  of  the  indissolubility  of  marriage,  it  is  necessa- 
ry to  know  that  marriage  may  be  regarded  either  as 
true  and  legitimate,  as  ratified  (ratum),  and  finally  as 
consummated.  That  is  a  true  and  legitimate  marriage 
which  is  annulled  by  no  law ;  that  is  called  ratified 
which  is  contracted  by  Christians,  and  that  consumma- 
ted, which  use  has  perfected  as  a  union.  The  bond  in 
these  has  an  increased  degree  of  firmness  and  indisso- 
lubility, for  a  marriage  between  baptized  persons,  con- 
tracted according  to  the  conditions  established  by  the 
church,  is  confirmed,  and  therefore  the  tie  is  ren'dered 
much  stronger  than  that  between  infidels  or  unbaptized 
persons ;  and  when  such  ratified  marriage  has  been 
made  perfect  by  consummation  its  firmness  is  still  more 
established. 

1.  It  is  held  as  certain,  that  a  true  legitimate  mar- 
riage, contracted  in  infidelity,  can  be  dissolved  as  to  its 
bond,  by  the  conversion  of  one  of  the  parties  to  Chris- 
tianity, if  the  other  is  not  willing  to  live  quietly  with 
the  Christian,  and  without  contumely  of  the  Creator. 
These  wolds  of  St.  Paul  furnish  a  solid  foundation  for 
this  belief :  "  But  to  them  that  are  married,  not  I,  but 
the  Lord  commandeth  that  the  wife  depart  not  from  her 
husband.  And  if  she  depart  that  she  remain  unmar- 
ried, or  be  reconciled  to  her  husband. -And  let  not  the 
husband  put  away  his  wife."  The  Apostle  shows  here 
the  indissolubility  of  the  bond  of  Christian  marriages. 
He  then  continues.:  "  For  to  the  rest  I  speak,  not  the 
Lord,  if  any  brother  hath  a  wife  that  believeth  not,  and 
she  consent  to  dwell  with  him  ;  let  him  not  put  her 
away.  And  if  any  woman  hath  a  husband  that  believ- 
eth not,  and  he  consent  to  dwell  with  her ;  let  her  not 
put  away  her  husband.",..  ....  "But  if  the  unbe- 
liever depart,  let  him  depart.  For  a  ^brother  or  sister 
is  not  under  servitude  in  such  -cases.  But  God  hath 
called  us  in  peace."*  Contrasting  the  marriages  of 
bejicvers  with  those  made  by  unbelievers,  in  which  one 
party  afterwards  becomes  a   Christian,  he   shows  that 

*  1  Cor.  vii:  10th  and  following: 


308  OF    MATRIMONY. 

the  first  are  entirely  indissoluble,  but  that  the  bond  may 
be  dissolved  in  the  last.  He  requires  the  parties  in  the 
first,  to  either  remain  unmarried  or  to  be  reconciled 
with  each  other,  but  for  the  last,  he  says :  "  If  the  un- 
believer depart,  let  him  depart,"  and  declares  that  "a 
brother  or  sister  is  not  under  a  servitude  in  such  cases," 
but  is  free.  He  evidently  grants  a  privilege  to  the 
Christian  party,  and  refers  to  the  separation  of  the 
bond,  and  not  to  a  mere  separation  as  to  habitation. 
The  commentaries  of  diiferent  fathers,  such  as  St.  Am- 
brose and  St.  John  Chrysostom,  represent  this  to  be 
the  meaning  of  the  Apostle.  The  decrees  of  Popes 
also  establish  the  same.  Pope  Innocent  III.  says:  "  If 
one  of  unbelieving  spouses  be  converted  to  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  the  other  in  no  manner,  or  not  without  blas- 
phemy of  the  divine  name,  or  in  order  to  load  him  to 
mortal  sin,  willingly  cohabits  with  him,  he  who  is  left,  can 
if  he  pleases  enter  into  second  vows :  and  in  this  case 
we  understand  what  the  Apostle  says :  if  he  wishes  to 
depart,  let  him  depart ;  for  a  brother  or  sister  is  not 
subjected  to  servitude  in  such  cases.  For  although 
true  marriage  exists  among  ijifidcls,  it  is  not  however 
ratified  (ratum)."*  And  Benedict  XIV.  writes:  "It 
is  certain,  that  from  a  privilege  in  favour  of  faith,  con- 
ceded by  Christ  the  Lord,  and  promulgated  by  the 
Apostle,  1  Cor.  vii,  the  marriage  of  unbelievers  (infi- 
delium)  can  be  dissolved  when  one  of  the  parties  em- 
braces the  Christian  faith ;  the  other,  obstinate  in  his 
infidelity,  refusing  to  cohabit  with  the  one  converted, 
or  being  indeed  willing  to  cohabit,  but  not^without  con- 
tumely of  the  creator,"f  &c. 

2.  It  is  of  faith,  that  a  ratified  marriage,  which  is 
not  consummated,  can  be  dissek'ed,  if  one  of  the  parties 
makes  a  solemn  ^profession  by  vow  in  some  regular  or- 
der, approved  by  the  church.  The  Council  of  Trent  de- 
clares :  "  If  any  one  saith,  that  matrimony  contracted, 
but  not  consummated,  is  not  dissolved  by  the  solemn 

*  Innocent  III.  de  Divortiis,  Cap.  VII.  |  De  S/nod.  Lib.  VI. 

Cap.  4,  §  3. 


OF    MATRIMONY.  309 

profession  of  religion  by  one  of  the  married  parties ; 
let  him  be  anathema."*  The  Scriptures  present  noth- 
ing on  this  case,  if  we  except  the  right  given  by  the  Sa- 
viour to  leave  father,  mother,  husband,  or  wife,  for  his 
sake,f  but  the  authority  and  practice  of  the  church  es- 
tablish it.  The  church,  according  to  the  powertdivine- 
ly  bestowed  upon-  her,  makes  it  a  condition,  that,  in 
Christian  marriages  not  consummated,  cither  of  the 
parties,  that  shall  choose,  may  be  able  to  embrace  the 
holier  and  more  perfect  state  in  religion  by  a  solemn 
profession  under  vow.  Therefore  such  contracts  are, 
among  Christians,  entered  into  subject  to  this  condi- 
tion. The  Greek  church  seems  to  hold  the  same  even 
for  marriages  not  only  ratified  but  consummated. 

3.  The  Catholic  doctrine  is,  that  a  true,  ratified  and 
consummated  marriage,  cannot  be  dissolved  as  to  its 
bond  {quoad  vinculum)  in  any  case,  or  for  any  cause. 
Citing  the  words  used  by  Adam  under  the  inspiration  of 
God  :  "  they  shall  be   two  in  one  flesh,"  the  Saviour 
expressly  announces    the%  indissolubility  of  marriage, 
saying  :  "  What  therefore  God  hath  joined  together, 
let  not  man  put  asunder.  "|     Thus  he  clearly  declares 
that  the  bond  is  God's  work,  and  that  it  is  not  in  man's 
power  to  sever,  or  break  it.     When  reminded  that  Mo- 
ses allowed  a  bill  of  divorce,  and  asked  why  he  allowed 
it?     He  replied :  "Because. Moses,  by  reason  of  the 
hardness  of  your  heart,  permitted  you  to  put  away  your 
wives:  but  from  the  beginning  it  was  not  so."     He 
therefore  declares   that  from  "  the  beginning"  it  was 
designed  that   marriage    should  be  indissoluble.     But 
much  more  it  should  be  so,  when  made  a  sacrament  by 
him,  for  its  being  a  sacrament  confers  upon  it  a  peculiar 
firmness  and  sanctity.     He  declares  in  St.  Luke,  that 
"  every  one  that  putteth  away  his   wife  and  marrieth 
another,  committeth  adultery:  and  he  that  marrieth  her 
that  is  put  away,  committeth  adultery. "§     In  this  dec- 
laration he  makes  no  exception.     Both  parties  are  in  the 


*  Sess.  XXIV,  Can.  VI.  f  Math-  xi*:  29-         X  Math-  xix-  c- 

§  Luke  xyi.  18. 


310  OP  MATRIMONY. 

same  case,  and  no  distinction'  is  made  as  to  causes  of 
separation.  In  St.  Mark,  lie  says :  "  Whosoever  shall 
put  away  his  wife  and  marry  another,  committeth  Adul- 
tery against  her.  And  if  the  wife  shall  put  away  her 
husband  and  be  married  to  another,  she  committeth 
adultery."*  Here  also  is  the  declaration  universal, 
and  includes  all  cases,  without  any  distinction  or  ex- 
ception. In  St.  Paul,  we  find  the  same  clear  and  uni- 
versal rule,  that  parties  who  are  Christians,  once  mar- 
ried, cannot  dissolve  the  bond  of  marriage,  so  as  to  be 
allowed  to  marry  again.  The  woman,  who  leaves  her 
husband,  must  remain  unmarried,  or  be  reconciled  to 
her  husband  again.  She  is  bound  to  her  husband  as 
long  as  he  lives. f  Wherefore  the  husband  is  also  un- 
der the  same  law,  as  shown  in  the  declaration  of  St. 
Paul,  that  "  the  husband  hath  not  power  over  his  own 
body;  but  the  wife  hath  power."  J  "  Who  are  we  then," 
asks  St.  Augustine,  "  that  we  should  say  one  is  guilty, 
of  adultery  who  puts  away  his  wife  and  marries  ano- 
ther ;  and  another  who  does  the  same  is  not  guilty  of 
adultery  ?  for  seeing  the  gospel  says,  every  one  commits 
adultery  who  does  this,  and  consequently  all  who.  do  it, 
that  is  whoever,  putting  away  his  wife,  marries  another, 
is  guilty  of  adultery  ;  without  doubt  both  are  included, 
both  he,  who,  for  any  other  cause  besides  fornication, 
puts  away  his  wife,  and  he  who  puts  her  away  for  the 
cause  of  fornication. "§  "  Here  St.  Augustine  maintains, 
that  no  cause  can  exempt  the  case  from  this  general 
law.  Consequently,  it  is  his  opinion  that  the  exception, 
made  by  the  Saviour,  as  reported  in  the  nineteenth 
chapter  of  St.  Mathcw,  verse  9th,  does  not  take  the 
case  from  under  the  general  law  of  the  indissolubility 
of  marriage  among  Christians.  Jesus  Christ  declares: 
"  And  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  shall  put  away 
hfs  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornication,  and  shall  marry 
another,  committeth  adultery ;  and  lie  that  shall  marry 
her  that  is   put  away,  committeth  adulter}'-."     What  is 

*  Maik  x.  11,  12.  f  1:  Cor  vii.  %  1  Cor.  vii.  4, 

5  St.  Aug.  lib  1.  de  adult  Conj,  Cap.  9. 


OF  MATRIMONY.  311 

the  proper  meaning  of  these  words  :  "  except  for  for- 
nication ?"  Does  Jesus  Christ  declare  that  the  bond  of 
marriage  may,  for  this  cause,  be  dissolved,  or  only  that, 
for  this  cause,  the  wife  or  husband  may  be  abandoned 
as  to  community  of  life,  but  not  as  to  the  bond  of  mar- 
riage ?  The  advocates  of  divorce,  strictly  so  called,  or 
divorce  a  vinculo  of  Christian  marriages,  assert  that  the 
exception.allows  the  bond  of  marriage  to  be  dissolved. 
The  church  maintains  that  this  exception  refers  only  to 
the  right  of  separation,  but  does  not  give  even  to  the 
innocent  party  the  right  of  being  free  to  marry  another. 
This  also  is  what  St.  Augustine  declares.  And  thus 
understood,  the  text  in  St.  Mathcw,  is  in  harmony  with 
those  we  have  cited  from  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke.  It 
is  in  harmony  with  what  these  last  have  declared  with- 
out exception,  that  we  ought  to  interpret  and  under- 
stand the  exception  g^ven  by  St.  Mathew,  for  their  text3 
are  clear  and  express,  while  that  of  St.  Mathew  is 
somewhat  ambiguous,  by  the  manner  in  which  the  ex- 
ception is  thrown  in.  And  what  shows,  that,  even  for 
the  cause  of  fornication,  the  Saviour  did  not  understand 
the  marriage  to  be  dissolved,  is  that  he  declares,  that 
"whoever  marries"  the  person  "who  is  put  away," 
even  for  this  cause,  "  committeth  adultery,"  which  would 
not  be  the  case,  if  the  marriage  with  the  first  husband 
had  been  dissolved,  since  marriage  is  the  union  of  two, 
and  cannot  be  dissolved  as  to  one  and  not  as  to  both. 
The  meaning  of  the  exception  therefore  is,  that  to  put 
away  one's  wife  for  any  cause,  "  except  for  fornication," 
is  to  commit  adultery  by  being  thus  the  occasion-  of  her 
committing  this  sin,  and  in  case  of  her  being  guilty  be- 
fore he  exposes  her,  then,  for  this  crime,  he  has  a  right 
"to  put  her  away,"  but  in  no  case,  has  he  a  right  to  marry 
again,  nor  has  she,  when  put  away,  the  liberty  to  marry 
another  as  long  as  he  lives,  and  any  party  who  should 
marry  her  would  commit  adultery.  The  exception  then 
only  concerns  separation,  but  docs  not  affect  the  bond 
of  the  marriage  which  is  indissoluble.  This  is  the  ex- 
press teaching  of  the  church :  "  If  any  one  saith,  that 
the  church  has  erred,  in  that  she  hath  taught,  and  doth 


312  OF   MATRIMONY. 

teach,  in  accordance  with  the  evangelical  and  Apostoli- 
cal doctrine,  that  the  bond  of  matrimony  cannot  be  dis- 
solved on  account  of  the  adultery  of  one  of  the  married 
parties;  and  that  both,  or  even  the  innocent  one  who 
gave  not  occasion  to  the  adultery,  cannot  contract  ano- 
ther marriage  during  the  lifetime  of  the  other  ;  and 
that  he  is  guilty  of  adultery,  who,  having  put  away  the 
adulteress,  shall  take  another  wife,  as  also  she,  who, 
having  put  away  the  adulterer,  shall  take  another  hus- 
band; let  him  be  anathema."* 

It  is  of  faith,  that  other  causes,  such  as  heresy,  irk- 
some cohabitation,  or  the  affected  absence  of  one  of  the 
parties,  do  not  furnish  a  cause  for  dissolving  marriage. 
"  If  any  one  saith,  that  on  account  of  heresy,  or  irk- 
some cohabitation,  or  the  affected  absence  of  one  of  the 
parties,  the  bond  of  matrimony  can  be  dissolved  ;  let 
him  be  anathema,  "f  But  it  is  also  of  faith,  that  the 
church,  who  does  not  admit  that  the  bond  can  be  dissol- 
ved, does  not  err  when,  for  certain  causes,  she  allows 
separation  "from  bed  and  board"  for  a  determinate  or 
indeterminate  period.  "  If  any  one  saith,  that  the 
church  errs,  in  that  she  declares  that,  for  many  causes, 
a  separation  may  take  place  between  husband  and  wife, 
in  regard  of  bed,  or  in  regard  of  cohabitation,  for  a  de- 
terminate or  for  an  _  indeterminate  period;  let  him  be 
anathama."J 

A  divorce  a  vinculo,  of  a  valid  and  perfect  marriage 
among  Christians,  can  never  be  brought  about  except 
by  the  death  of  one  of  the  parties.  All  that  the  civil 
authority  can  do,  is  to  allow  a  divorce  a  mensa  et  thoro, 
and  as  to  all  the  legal  consequences  of  the  marriage 
contract.  If  it  allows  its  subjects  to  marry  again,  the 
other  party  divorced  still  living,  it  contravenes  the  law 
of  God,  and  though  it  legalizes  such  unions  in  the  eyes 
of  those  who  do  not  regard  the  church  as  the  teacher 
and  interpreter  of  the  law  of  God,  it  cannot  change 


*  Coiinc.  Trent,  Sess.  XXIV.     Can.  V  f  Ibid,  Can.  V. 

J  Ibid,  Can.  VIII. 


OP   MATRIMONY.  818 

tke  nature  of  these  unions,  which,  before  God  and  his 
church,  are  not  valid  marriages.  Divorces  of  this  sort 
are  but  a  kind  of  Polygamy,  and  often  cause  more  evils 
to  families  and  to  society,  than  would  result  from  real 
Polygamy.  The  facility  for  divorce  is  a  premium  offer- 
ed for  crime ;  and  the  prospect  of  liberation  from  the 
bond,  makes  the  married  parties  less  solicitous  to  ren- 
der the  common  yoke  more  tolerable  and  easy.  Hence 
the  more  divorces  that  are  granted,  the  greater  the 
numbers  that  are  seen  to  apply  for  them,  and  children 
are  thus  often  abandoned  by  one  or  both  of  those  who 
should  fulfil  towards  «them  the  offices  of  nature,  and 
take  care  of  their  physical,  mental,  and  moral  educa- 
tion, while  step-mothers  are  brought  in  to  contemn  and 
neglect  them,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  present  more 
urgent  claims  of  nature  and  interest.  Socie  v  in  _f>n- 
eral  receives  from  this  influence  a  degree  of  demorali- 
zation, which  will  continue  to  increase  with  the  progress 
of  its  cause,  just  as  the  ancient  civilization  of  Home 
flourished,  for  six  or  seven  centuries,  when  divorce  was 
a  thing  unknown,  and  lapsed  into  the  deepest  corrup- 
tion in  proportion  as  it  became  frequent  and  fashiona- 
ble. 

Of  the  Marriages  of  Slaves. 

And  h§re  we  would  take  occasion  to  deplore  the  con- 
duct of  the  civil  government  in  this  country,  regarding 
the  matrimonial  contract  of  slaves,  which,  though  the 
rulers  profess  Christianity,  is  completely  ignored  even 
as  a  civil  contract,  and  left  entirely  to  the  caprice  of 
owners,  who  frequently  without  scrupl*-  or  hesitation, 
and  for  the  sake  of  interest  or  gain,  part  man  and  wife, 
separate  parents  from  their  children,  and  treat  the  mat- 
rimonial union  among  them,  as  if  it  were  really  no 
more  than  the  chance  association  of  unreasoning  ani- 
mals. Often,  also,  some  of  these  marriages  are  indis- 
soluble by  the  sacramental  bond,,- as  well  as  by  the 
original  design  of  the  Creator,  and  by  the  action  of 
Christkyi '  proprietors  and  the  neglect  of  a  Christian 


'idt  OF  MATRIMONY, 

government,  these  separated  parties  are  subjected  t<? 
the  temptation  to  form  criminal  and  forbidden  alliances, 
from  "which  frequency,  custom,  and  the  condition  of  ser- 
vitude, have  removed  in  the  public  view,  the  shame  and 
stigma  which  they  possess  before  God,  and  according  to 
the  maxims  of  the  Gospel.  Christian  proprietors  will 
Jbnow  and  tolerate  these  alliances  in  their  slaves,  even 
when  made  without  any  formality,  and  where  they  are 
aware  that  one  or  both  is  under  the  obligation  of  other 
ties. 

It  is  not  certain,  that  the  present  dreadful  ealamitiesr 
which  afflict  the  country,  are  not-  the  scourge  of  God,, 
chiefly  for  this  sin,  among  the  many  that  provoke  his* 
anger,  in  our  people.  He  is  not  likely  to  leave  long  un- 
punished in  a  nation,  the  palpable  and  flagrant  con- 
iempt^of  his  holy  laws,  such  as  is  evinced  in  this  ne- 
glect or  refusal  to  respect  in  slaves,  the  holiness,  the 
unity,  and  the  indissolubility  of  marriage.  .  It  would 
appear,  that  by  the  present  convulsions,  his  Providence 
is  preparing  for  them  at  least  a  recognition  of  those 
rights  as  immortal  beings,  which  are  required  for  the 
observance  of  the  paramount  laws  of  God.  And  if 
citizens  desire  to  see  the  nation  prosper  and  enjoy  tjie 
blessing  of  God,  let  all  unite  to  procure  from  the  civil 
government,  for  the  slaves,. that  their  marriages  be  es- 
teemed as  God  intends,  and  not  be  dealt  with  in  future 
as  they  havo  been  hitherto.  • 

Concerning  those  who  Contract  Marriage— The  Imped- 
iments of  Marriage. 

Those  only  a#e  fit  subjects  to  make  the  contract  of 
marriage  who  are  not  affected  by  any  of  the  impedi- 
ments, which  would  renderthem  incapable  to  make  the 
contract  licitly  and  validly.  These  impediments  are  of 
two  kinds ;  some  of  -which  merely  forbid  marriage,  and 
make  it  unlawful,"  under  the  circumstances  but  not  in- 
valid, -while  others  «inul  it  altogether,  and  cause  it  to  be 
invalid.  In  pediments  nfi'oct  the  persons,  and  suppose 
something  wanting,  or  something  present,  which  makea 


OF    MATRIMONY. 

them  unfit  to  contract*narriage.  For  iustanco,  in  the  im- 
pediments of'  crrour,  and  of  violence  or  coaetion,  the 
free  consent  is  wanting,  and  in  those  of  order  and  of 
the  bond  (ligaraen),  there  is  present  another  obligation 
unfitting  the  persons  to  contract,  since  in  order,  there 
is  the  sacred  vow,  and  in  the  bond,  there  is  the  tie  of 
-marriage  to  another.  Some  impediments  render  the 
partiea  unfit  to  contract  marriage  enlyv.ith  certain  per- 
sons, as  consanguinity  in  certain  degrees,  and  others  make 
them  unfit  to  contract  with  any  person,  as  real  insani- 
iy,  or  want  of  proper  reason,  and  therefore  want  of 
ability  to  make  a  contract.* 

Of  the  Power  to  Establish  Impediments, 

Matrimony  as  an  office  cf  nature  depends  upon  the 
will  and  consent  of  the  contracting  parties.  But  the 
parties  being  subject  to  the  civil  authority,  must  enter 
tnto  such  contracts  subject  to  the  civil  laws,  as  far  as 
-concerns  the  legal  effects  of  their  marriage.  The  civil 
government  or  state  has  no  legitimate  authority  to  in- 
terfere with  the  natural  contract,  but  it  can  make  con- 
ditions upon  which  it  will  admit  such  contracts  to  be 
considered  legal  marriages,  and  adequate  to  confer  civil 
rights  upon  the  parties  and  their  offspring.  If  the  con- 
ditions which  it  prescribes  be  wanting,  it  may  refuse  to 
admit  suck  marriages  to  be  lawful.  Its  laws  therefore 
may  decree  impediinents*which  affect  the  marriage  as 
to  its  public  lawfulness  and  its  civil  consequences.  But 
the  natural  contract  which  depends  on  the  will  of  God 


Th-4  following  latin  verse6  sliow  the  impediments: 
Impediment  toliirh  render  void. 
Error,  conditio,  votum,  cognatio,  crimen 
Culms  disparitas,  vis,  ordo,  Ligarrren,  tione*ta&, 
Amens,  aflLais,  si  clandestinus  et  impes, 
J3i  ivwilier  sit  rapta,  loco  nee  reddita  utto. 
H»c  facie  uda  vetant  connubia,  facta  ratractRflt 

Impediments  whirh  forbid  but  do  nol  annul. 
E  fclesise  vetiium,  tempus,  sponsaHa,  votum 
Iti-pcJiuut  licri,  permituint  junc'.a  teiiere. 


316'  OF    MATRIMONT. 

expressed  in  the  natural  law,  and>  the  sacrament,  -whicn 
in  marriages  of  Christians  is  to  be  regarded  as  insepa- 
rable from  the  natural  contract,  are  subject  only  to 
the  laws  of  God,  and  of  his  church  to  which  He  has 
given  a  divine  authority  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  The 
authority  of  the  church  can  only  directly  affect  her  mem- 
bers, or  the  baptized.  For  all  the  members  of  the 
ehurch,  her  laws,  requiring  certain  things  as  conditions 
to  the  validity  of  the  marriage  contract,  and  declaring 
such  contracts  null,  without  the  prescribed  conditions, 
are  binding,  and  thus  the  members  might  possibly  find 
themselves  engaged  in  a  true,  sacramental  Marriage, 
which  the  civil  authority  might  consider  not  lawful,  or 
also  in  a  legal  marriage,  which  the  church  might  esteem 
to  be  null,  both  as  a  contract  and  as  a  sacrant*nt.*  In 
some  countries,  the  rights  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
power  in  respect  to  marriage,  are  the  subject  of  contro- 
versy, but  with  us  the  state  does  not  pretend  to  regu- 
late, what  pertains  to  conscience,  and  its  statutes  are  to 
be  understood  as  regulating  only  civil  effects  and  rights. 

The  church,  however,  every  where,  and  at  all  times, 
has  claimed  to  have  "the  power  to  determine  all  those 
things  which  can  in  any  manner  pertain"  to  the  mar- 
riage of  her  children,  and  to  judge  matrimonial  causes 
for  them.f 

The  following  canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  with 
respect  to  the  power  to  impose  impediments,  and  the 
right  to  judge  matrimonial^auses,  show  what  is  of 
faith:  "If  any  one  saith,  that  only  those  degrees 
of  consanguinity  and  affinity,  which  are  set  down  in 
Leviticus,  can  hinder  Matrimony  from  being  contract- 
ed, and  dissolve  it  when  contracted  ;  and  that  the  church 
cannot  dispense  in  some  of  those  degrees,  or  establish 
that  others  may  hinder  and  dissolve  it ;  let  him  be  ana- 
thema."— Seu.  XXIV.  Can.  III. 


•  Thus  the  Emperov  Justinian  enacted  a  law  making  the  mar- 
liage  of  cousins  lawful,  which  Pope  St.  Gregory,  in  his  rescript  to 
St.  Augustine  or  Austin,  bishop  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  declared  via- 
lawful  f  Encycl.  Pius  IX.,  before  cited. 


OF    MATRIMONY.  817 

"  If  anjf  one  saith,  that  the  church  could  not  estab- 
lish impediments  dissolving  marriage ;  or  that  she  haa 
erred  in  establishing  them;  let  him  be  anathema." — 
Ibid,  Ca?i.  IV. 

"  If  anj  one  saith,  that  matrimonial  causes  do  not 
belong  to  ecclesiastical  judges;  let  him  be  anathema." 
—Bid,  Can.  XII. 

This  doctrine  follows  from  the  very  fact,  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  elevated  matrimony  to  the  dignity  of  a  sac- 
rament, and  can  only  be  logically  impugned  by  thoso 
who  deny  that  marriage  is  any  more  than  a  natural  and 
civil  contract.  Spiritual  things  are  not  of  the  compe- 
tence of  lay  tribunals.  Jesus  Christ  himself  has  estab- 
lished thd  impediment  of  the  bond,  or  ligamen,  as  we 
see  in  Math,  xix,  Mark  x,  Luke  xvi,  already  cited.  St. 
Paul  refers  to  this  impediment,  saying:  "Whilst  her 
husband  liveth,  the  woman  is  bound  to  the  law."  Rom. 
vii:  2,  a*d  also  in  1  Cor.  vii:  10,  11,  12,  where  he 
also  bring*  in  the  impediment  of  disparity  of  religion, 
see  versos  13,  14,  15,  regarding  the  freedom  of  the 
believer  when  the  unbelieving  party  departs.  This 
power  Jesus  Christ  conferred  upon  the  church,  when  he 
entrusted  to  her  care  his  sacraments,  to  see  that  they 
should  be  administered  for  the  good  of  the  souls  of  the 
members  of  his  church,  arid  also  when  he  gave  a  gene- 
ral power  "to  bind  and  to  loose." 

Hence  the  church  has  ever  claimed  and  used  this 
power:  "It  is  becoming,"  writes  St.  Ignatius,  "that 
spouses  should  enter  into  marriage  according  to  the 
judgment  of  the  bishop ;  by  which  their  nuptials  may 
be  according  to  the  Lord,  and  not  according  to  cu- 
pidity."* 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  apology,  terms  those  sinners 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  church  who  contracted  cer- 
tain marriages  allowed  by  the  imperial  laws.  And  Ter- 
tullian  says:  "Therefore  do  we  not  marry  heathens, 
lest  we  be  led  to  idolatry,  from  which  among  them  nup- 
tials commence,  "f     He  here  shows  already  the  custom 

*  Ep.  ««l  Polycarp.         fDe  Corona.  Cap.  13. 


318  OP    MATRIMONY. 

of  the  impediment  of  disparity  of  religion,  -which  after- 
wards was  constituted  an  annulling  impediment.  St. 
Basil,  who  died  in  370,  in  his  epistle  to  Diodorus,  speak- 
ing of  one  who  had  married  the  sister  of  his  deceased 
wife  declares,  that  he  acted  contrary  "to  the  sanctions 
delivered  hj  "holy  men,"  and  that  said  person  should  part 
from  her,  before  admission  among  the  faithful.  In  the 
fourth  century  the  Council  of  Elviris  (or  Elvira)  decreed 
that  matrimony  cannot  be  contracted  with  infidels,  and 
also  within  certain  degrees  of  kindred.*  Pope  Siricius,  in 
his  letter  to  Himerius,  refers  to  the  impediment  of  pub- 
lic honesty  as  established  by  ecclesiastical  authority. f 
In  the  sixth  century,  the  first  Council  of  Orleans  in  511, 
and  the  second  in  the  same  city  in  583,  have  decrees 
acting  impediments.  The  acts  of  later  eouncils,  and 
.  ■  r  rescripts  of  different  popes  are  eited  to  the- 
same  effect  from  the  different  centuries,  but  for  our  pur- 
pose these  are  more  than  sufficient.  As  St.  Augustine 
declares :  "  The  church  of  God  neither  approves,  nor 
connives  at,  nor  does  any  thing  contrary  to  faith,  or 
good  morals. "  |  and  therefore  we  feel  assured,  that  her 
claims  and  action  regarding  matrimony  are  under  tho 
direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  sent  to  be  with  her  forever. 

The  Impediments  which  Annul  Marriage. 

"We  will  call  attention  to  a  few  of  these  impediments 
which  render  marriage  void  and  invalid,  unless  removed 
by  dispensation,  and  which  the  faithful  generally  should 
know. 

1.  Erroiir  is  when  a  person  is  married  to  one  person 
thinking  and  intending  to  marry  another.  It  is  by 
natural  law  an  impediment  which  makes  such  marriage 
null,  for  in  it  there  is  not  such  will  and  consent  as  is 
requisite.. 

The  solemn  vow  of  chastity,  made  by  one  who  has 
received  sacred  orders,  or  made  profession  of  religion 
_• 

•  In  Labbe  Tom    [.  p.  179,  vc  ta.  LXI.  and  Lv 

|in  Labbe  Tom,  2d,  p.  1019.      $  Letter  CXTX 


OP  MATRIMONY.  319 

in  some  order  or  community  approved  by  the  church. 
Such  arc  incapable  of  contracting  marriage,  and,  if  they 
attempt  to  do  so,  the  marriage  is  void  and  null  by  the  law 
of  the  church. 

3.  Cognatio,  or  kindred,  ■which  may  be  natural,  spir- 
itual, or  legal,  that  is  by  adoption,  which  last  seldom 
occurs  in  this  country,  at  least  with  the  formality  re- 
quired to  induce  the  impediment.  Natural  kindred  is 
termed  consanguinity,  and  results  from  persons  being 
allied  by  descending  from  the  same  stock  or  issue.  In 
the  oblique  or  transverse  line,  it  annuls  marriage  by  ec- 
clesiastical law  to  tho  fourth  degree  included,  and  it 
holds  as  well  in  illicit  as  in  licit  generation.*  In  tho 
direct  line,  it  annuls  in  every  degree,  and,  as  is  the  most 
probable  opinion,  in  the  first  degree  by  the  law  of  na- 
ture. 

4.  Spiritual  kindred  is  the  relationship  of  certain 
persons  by  ecclesiastical  law,  contracted  by  means  of 
baptism  or  confirmation.  It  prevents  and  annuls  mar- 
riage between  th"e  person  baptizing  and  the  one  bapti- 
zed, and  the  parents  of  the  baptized,  and  between  tho 
sponsors  and  the  baptized,  and  the  parents  of  the  bap- 
tized, and  the  same  for  the  confirmed  wnere  there  are 
Bponsors. 

5.  Crime,  crimen,  is  the  impediment  arising  from 
adultery,  with  a  mutual  promise  of  marriage  in  case  the 
innocent  spouse  or  p»rty  should  die.  It  is  sometimes 
attended  with  a  machination  to  kill  the  innocent  party, 
and  even  with  the  actual  killing.  This  machination 
itself  is  an  annulling  impediment  when  the  eifect  fol- 
lows, and  is  perpetrated  with  the  intention  in  both  per- 
sons, and  the  promise  of  marriage  either  in  the  present 
or  in  the  future,  even  though  there  be  no  adultery. 
But  that  adultery  should  be  an  annulling  impediment : 
1st.  It  must  be  accompanied  with  a  promise  of  marriage 
after  the  death  of  the  other  spouse,  and  it  matters  not 

*  To  know  the  degree  of  consanguinity  between  two  persons, 
the  rule  is  to  count  the  number  of  persons  who  are  between  them 
and  the  common  stock;  there  are  as  many  degrees  as  persons,  tha 
stock  or  head  not  included, 


320  OF   MATRIMONY. 

whether  this  promise  preceded  or  followed  the  crime  ; 
2dly.  It  must  be  a  formal  adultery,  for  if  the  one  was 
ignorant  that  the  other  was  married,  it  would  not  suf- 
fice for  the  impediment ;  3dly.  It  must  be  a  perfect  act 
of  adultery,  as  the  law  specifies.  This  impediment  is 
placed  by  the  law  of  the  church  to  prevent  crimes,  by 
letting  all  persons  know  that  in  yielding  to  temptations 
to  crime,  they  are  placing  more  obstacles  in  their  way. 

6.  Disparity  or  difference  of -religion  is  the  prohibi- 
tion to  marry  those  of  a  different  religion,  and  in  its 
strict  sense,  4t  is  a  law  annulling  marriage  between  a 
member  of  the  church  and  an  infidel,  or  unbaptizcd 
person.  If  any  member  of  the  church  enters,  into  such 
a  marriage,  without  a  dispensation,- the  marriage  is  null 
and  invalid.  Even  marriage  with  one  not  of  the  church, 
but  who  is  baptized,  is  unlawful,  though  not  for  this 
invalid,  if  no  other  impediment  annuls  it.  The  church, 
who  watches  over  the  faith  and  eternal  interests  of  her 
children,  has  established  this  impediment. 

7.  Violence  is  an  impediment  arising  from  a  coaction 
which  prevents  the  free  consent  of  one  or  both  of  the 
parties.  By  natural  law,  such  marriage  is  null.  Free- 
dom is  indispensable  to  this  contract. 

8.  Public  honesty,  is  an  impediment  arising  from  ab- 
solute or  valid  espousals  {sponsalia)  or  betrothal,  for 
where  a  true  promise  of  marriage  is  made  to  a  person 
and  accepted,  public  honesty  indices  a  sort  of  relation- 
ship with  the  blood  relations  of  such  person,  and  if  the 
promise  or  betrothal  be  broken  off,  annuls  marriage 
with  the  relations  of  that  person  in  the  first  degree,  * 
for  a  betrothal,  but  fof  a  ratified  marriage  to  the  fourth 
degree  included. 

9.  Affinity,  is  an  impediment  which  arises  from  mar- 
riage, and  causes  one  party  to  be  allied  to  the  blood 
relations  of  the  other,  so  that  after  the  death  of  the 
spouse,  the  survivor  cannot  marry  reciprocally  with  any 


f  *  By  the  old  law.  the  impediment  extended  to  other  degrees,  but 
it  has  been  restricted  to  the  first  by  the  Council  of  Trent.,  when  re- 
•lilting  from  a  betrothal  kioken. 


OF   MATRIMONY.  321 

of  the  relations  of  the  other  to  the  fourth  degree.  For 
the  parties  are  by  affinity  allied  to  the  relations  of  each 
other.  The  same  affinity,  annulling  marriage  to  the 
second  degree,  results  from  illicit  intercourse,  and  by 
such  illicit  act  by  one  after  marriage,  the  right  to  the 
debitu'm  matrimonii  is  lost. 

10.  Claud  cstinity,  is  an  impediment,  which,  -wher- 
ever the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent  on  marriage  has 
been  published,  annuls  a  marriage  not  contracted  in 
presence  of  the  parish  priest,  or  of  a  priest  approved 
for  this  by  the  bishop,  or  parish  priest,  and  of  two  or 
three  witnesses. 

11.  The  violent  abduction  of  a  person  from  one  place 
to  another,  for  the  purpose  of  entering  into  a  marriage 
with  such  person,  is  by  law  made  an  impediment  to  such 
marriage,  as  long  as  such  abducted  person  is  not  restor- 
ed to  a  safe  place,  and  is  still  "in  the  power  of  the  vio- 
lent abductor.  And  this  impediment  exists  as  long  as 
such  person  is  in  the  abductor's  power,  even  though  af- 
terwards willing  to  consent  to  marriage.  The  church 
requires  the  person  to  be  entirely  free,  by  being  brought 
back  and  out  of  all  restraint. 

Prohibitive  impediments,  but  which  do  not  annul. 

The  impediments,  which  only  render  marriage  unlaw- 
ful and  sinful,  but  do  not  make  it  invalid,  and  are  called 
prohibitive,  are  four.  1st.  Promise  of  marriage  to 
another,  called  espousals — when  made  with  proper  for- 
mality ;  this  makes  marriage  unlawful  while  Still  sub- 
sisting. 2d.  The  sacred  time,  for  the  Council  of  Trent 
"  enjoins,  that  the  ancient  prohibitions  of  solemn  nup- 
tials be  carefully  observed  by  all,  from  the  Advent  of 
.our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  until  the  day  after  Epiphany, 
an'd  from  Ashwednesday  until  the  octave  of  Easter  in- 
clusively."* 3d.  The  prohibition  of  the  church,  whether 
by  an  interdict,  or  by  a  delay  imposed  by  the  ecclesias- 
tical superior,  in  order  to  ascertain  about  impediments 

*  Seis.  XXIV.  Ch.  X. 


322  OF   MATRIMONY. 

or  objections.  4th.  A  simple  vow  of  chastity,  as  of  not 
marrying,  or  of  receiving  Holy  Order,  or  becoming  a 
religious.  From  such  a  vow  the  person  -who  wishes  to 
marry  should  have  to  obtain  a  dispensation. 

These  impediments  are  for  the  advantage  of  society 
and.  for  the  honour  of  religion,  but  however  advantageous, 
there  may  exist  circumstances  and  grave  reasons  for  a 
dispensation  from  them  in  particular  cases.  The  churchy 
exercises  this  power  in  regard  to  those  impediments 
which  have  been  created  only  by  her  own  laws,  while  she 
never  interferes  with  those  founded  on  God's  law.  The 
law  and  custom  of  proclaiming  the  bans  of  marriage, 
are  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  if  any  impediments 
are  in  existence  to  prevent  it. 

We  need  not  say  anything  about  the  necessity  of 
marriage  as  designed  by  God  from  the  beginning ;  and 
its  necessity  as  a-  sacrament,  or  as  a  sign  which  gives 
grace  to  the  parties,  is  manifest  to  all  spiritually  mind- 
ed persons,  who  know  how  great  is  the  responsibility  of 
those  who  enter  into  the  marriage  state,  and  how  much 
they  stand  in  need  of  grace  to  live  holily,  and  to  sancti- 
fy their  families.  All  are  not  obliged  to  enter  into 
this  state,  for  although  a  person  does  well  who  marries, 
lie  does  better,  who,  for  serving  God,  refrains  from 
marriage,  as  the  Apostle. St.  Paul  expressly  declares.* 

Of  the  Dispositions  for  Marriage. 

The  Christian  ought  to  be  in  the  state  of  grace  and 
friendship  with  God,  when  he  receives  the  sacrament  of 
marriage,  upon  which  will  depend,  in  a  great  measure, 
not  only  the  peace  and  happiness  of  his  after  life,  but 
perhaps  even  his  destiny  during  eternity.  He  should, 
in  making  his  choice,  secure  divine  direction  by  prayer, _ 
and  purity  his  intention  :  "  House  and  riches,"  says  the 
wise  man,  "are  given  by  parents  ;  but  a  prudent  wife 
is  properly  from  the  Lord  ;"f  and  if  a  good  wife  be  the 
gift  of  God,  a  good  husband  also  must  be  the  prepara- 

•  1  Cor.  vii:  38.         t  Proverbs  xixr  14 


OF   MATRIMONY.  323 

tion  of  his  providence.  God's  intention  in  this  institu- 
tion ought  to  be  the  Christian's  chief  intention,  since 
otherwise  great  disasters,  like  those  of  which  we  read 
in  the  book  of  Tobias,  may  befall  him,  for  if  he  act 
like  "  those  who  so  receive  matrimony,  as  to  shut  out 
God  from  themselves  and  from  their  minds,"*  the  devil 
will  have  power  over  him  as  he  had  over  them.  "Hap- 
py is  the  husband  of  a  good  wife  :  for  the  _  number  of 
his  years  is  double.  A  virtuous  woman  rejoiccth  her 
husband,  and  shall  fulfil  the  years  of  his  life  in  peace. 
A  good  wife  is  a  good  portion,  she  shall  be  given  in  the 
portion  of  them  that  fear  God,  to  a  man  for  his  good 
deeds.  Rich  or  poor,  if  his  heart  is  good,  his  counte- 
nance shall  be  cheerful  at  all  times. "f  If  such  a  wife 
be  the  portion  of  a  man  "who  fears  God,"  the  woman 
who  selects  as  husband  a  man  that  does  not  fear  him, 
and  cares  not  for  the  interests  of  eternity,  perhaps  is 
not  herself  of  the  number  of  those  yho  make  husbands 
happy,  and  who  deserve  to  be  called  "a  good  portion." 
For  Christians,  in  choosing  the  partners  of  life,  the  first 
and  most  important  consideration  should  be  their  salva- 
tion during  eternity,  and  therefore  they  should  require 
the  true  faith,  and  the  love  and  practice  of  the  Chris- 
tian virtues,  as  indispensable  conditions  in  the  persons 
whom  tliey  select.  Beauty,  personal  qualities,  family, 
position,  wealth,  may  be  minor  considerations,  and  not 
sinful,  but  they  should  never  be  the  first  and  chief  in- 
ducements to  a  choice. 


*  See  Tobias  ch.  vi.        t  Kcclosiastious  xxvi. 


324  MAN   IN   THE   FUTURE. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MAN  IN  THE  FUTURE  WORLD — HIS  LAST  END — DEATH 
— JUDGMENT — HEAVEN — HELL  —  THE  RELATION  OF 
THE  LIVING  TO  THE  DEPARTED  —  INVOCATION  AND 
VENERATION  OF  SAINTS — RELICS — IMAGES — PURGA- 
TORY— PRATERS   FOR   THE   DEAD. 

The  Scriptures  say  to  us  :  "  In  all  thy  works  remem- 
ber thy  last  end,  and  thou  shalt  never  sin."  Ecclesias- 
ticus  vii :  40.  Four  things  concern  the  last  end  of 
man,  Death,  judgment,  J  leaven,  and  Hell. 

St.  Paul  teaches  that  death  is  the  punishment  of  sin, 
"for  the  wages  of  sin  is  death."  Horn,  vi:  23.  "But 
by  the  envy  of  the  devil,  death  came  into  the  world." 
Wisdom  ii:  24.  "Wherefore  by  one  man  sin  entered 
into  the  world,  and  by  sin  death ;  and  so  death  passed 
upon  all  men  in  whom  all  have  sinned*."  Rom.  v:  12. 
"Death,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "is  not  a  condition  of 
nature,  but  a  punishment  of  sin."  Lib.  de  Proedest.  et 
Grat.  Gbp.  3d.  "But  it  is  decreed  for  all  men  once  to 
die."  We  are  certain  to  die,  but  the  time,  manner, 
place  and  circumstances  are  all  dreadfully  uncertain. 

But  judgment  follows  death  immediately  :  "  It  is  ap- 
pointed for  all  men  once  to  die,  and  after  death  the 
judgment."  I'his  judgment,  which  follows  death,  is 
the  immediate  judgment  of  the  soul  without  the  body, 
and  fixes  its  lot  for  eternity.  It  is  called  the  particu- 
lar judgment.  "  It  is  easy  before  God  in  the  day  of 
death  to  reward  every  one  according  to  his  ways."  Ec- 
clesiasticus  xi :  28. 

It  is  of  faith,  that  at  the  end  of  the  world  the  dead 
shall  arise,  and  the  bodies  and  souls  shall  again  be  uni- 
ted, and  all  shall  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ,  who  is  "  the  judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead." 
'•The  Father  hath  given  judgment  to  the  son.!'  John 
v:  22.  "And  he  commanded  us  to  preach  and  to  tes- 
tify that  it  is  he  vrho  was  appointed  by  God  to  be  the 


MAN   IN   THE   FUTURE.  825 

judge  of  the  living  and  of  the  dead."  Acts  x :  42. 
"  For  we  must  all  be  manifested  before  the  judgment 
scat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the  proper 
things  of  the  body  according  as  he  hath  done,  whether 
it  be  good  or  evil."  2  Cor.  v:  10.  "And  all  nations 
shall  be  gathered  together  before  him."  Math,  xxv:  32. 
This  is  the  universal  judgment. 

But  the  lot  of  persons  is  decided  at  the  particular 
judgment.  "We  believe  that  the  souls  of  those  who, 
after  having  received  baptism,  incur  no  stain  whatever, 
and  also  those  souls,  whef  after  having  contracted  the 
stain  of  sin  are  cleansed,  either  while  in  the  bodies, 
or  after  being  divested  of  their  bodies,  are  immediately 
received  into  heaven."  2d  Council  of  Lyons.  To  this 
the  Council  of  Florence  adds:  "And  they  clearly  be- 
hold God  himself  three  and  one  as  he  is,  however  some 
more  perfectly  than  others,  according  to  the  diversity 

of  merits But  the  souls  of  those  who  die  in 

mortal  sin,  or  in  original  sin  only,  immediately  descend 
to  hell,  to  be  punished  however  with  unequal  punish- 
ments."   % 

To  the  just,  who  have  preserved  their  baptismal  in- 
nocence, or  who  have  been  purified  from  their  sins  be- 
fore death,  and  who  have  nothing  to  expiate,  the  beatific 
vision  of  God  is  awarded  immediately.  They  enjoy 
eternal  life. .  To  the  just,  not  cleansed  from  lesser  sins, 
or  who  have  yet  to  expiate  their  sins  by  satisfaction, 
there  is  a  purification  in  the  future  world. 

Those  who  "tfie  guilty  of  mortal  sin  without  repent- 
ance are  condemned  to  hell,  into  which  they  descend 
forthwith,  where  they  suffer  the  loss  of  God,  and  the 
pains  of  sense.  It  is  of  faith,  that  these  punishments 
are  as  eternal  as  the  happiness  of  the  blessed.  The 
common  belief  is,  that  hell  is  subterranean,  and  that 
the  fires  of  hell  are  material,  but  these  last  points  have 
not  been  expressly  defined. 

For  the  lot  of  those  in  hell  who  have  been  guilty  of 
original  sin  only,  see  what  we  have  said,  page  14G  and 
following. 

With  those  who  have  descended  to  hell,  the  living 


326  MAN   IN   THH  FUTURE. 

I 

can  hold  no  permitted  relations.  But  with  those  in 
heaven,  and  those  yet  in  the  way  of  purification,  we 
are  held  by  "the  bonds  of  the  communion  of  saints." 
The  first  pray  for  us,  and  we  can  venerate  them  and 
invoke  their  intercession.  The  last  we  can  benefit  by 
our  prayers  and  suffrages.  "We  will  briefly  state  the 
doctrine  on  these  points. 

Of  the  Saints — We  can  Venerate  and  Invoke  tliem — 
They  Pray  for  the  Living. 

The  Council  of  Trent  declares :  "  That  the  saints, 
who  reign  with  Christ,  offer  up  their  own  prayers  to 
God  for  men ;  that  it  is  good  and  useful  suppliantly  to 
invoke  them,  and  to  have  recourse  to  their  prayers,  aid 
and  help,  for  obtaining  benefits  from  God,  through  his 
Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  is  our  alone  Redeem- 
er and  Saviour."  To  deny  this  doctrine,  to  say  that 
it  is  foolish  to  supplicate  the  saints,  or  that  they  do  not 
pray  for  men,  or  that  it  is  against  the  Word  of  God,  or 
idolatry,  to  invoke  them,  the  Council  condmns  as  im- 
piety. 

With  respect  to  Relics  of  saints,  the  Council  declares: 
"Also,  that  the  bodies  of  holy  martyrs,  and  of  others 
now  living  with  Christ — which  bodies  were  the  living 
members  of  Christ  and  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  which  are  by  him  to  be  raised  unto  eternal  life,  and 
to  be  glorified,  are  to  be  venerated  by%  the  faithful ; 
through  which  (bodies)  many  benefits  are  bestowed  by 
God  on  men."  The  Council  condemns  those,  who  af- 
firm that  such  honour  and  veneration  are  not  due  to  the 
relics  of  saints,  or  say  that  such  honour  is  useless,  or 
that  it  is  vain  to  visit  places  dedicated  to  their  memo- 
ries, with  a  view  of  obtaining  their  aid. 

With  respect  to  images,  &c,  the  Council  declares  : 
"  Moreover,  the  images  of  Christ,  of  the  Virgin  Moth- 
er of  God,  and  of  other  saints,  are  to  be  had  and  re- 
tained particularly  in  temples,  and  that  due  honour  and 
veneration  are  to  be  given  them  ;  not  that  any  divinity* 
or  virtue,  is  believed  to  be  in  them,  on  account  of  which 


MAN   15   THE   FUTURE.  827 

they  are  to  be  worshipped ;  or  that  any  thing  is  to  be 
asked  of  them  ;  or  that  trust  is  to  be  reposed  in  images, 
as  was  of  old  done  by  the  Gcntile3  who  placed  their 
hope  in  idols ;  but  because  the  honour  which  is  shown 
them  is  referred  to  the  prototypes  which  those  images  rep- 
resent ;  in  such  wise  that  by  the  images  we  kiss,  and  be- 
fore which  we  uncover  the  head  and  prostrate  ourselves, 
we  adore  Christ;  and  we  venerate  the  saints  who  bear 
his  similitude  ;  as  by,  decrees  of  Councils,  and  especially 
of  the  second  Synod  of  Nice,  has  been  defined  against 
the  opponents  of  images." — Counm  Trent,  Sess.  XXV., 
on  Invoc.  of  Saints. 

We  here  perceive  what  has  been  defined  on  these 
points.  We  see  in  the  Scriptures  that  God  will  do  for 
his  friends,  what  he  would  not  for  others.  He  caused 
Abimelech  to  get  Abraham  to  pray  for  him,  and  spared 
this  king  on  account  of  Abraham's  prayers.  Gen.  xx: 
17.  The  angel  sqnt  to  destroy  Sodom  spared  the  to\jn 
of  Segor  at  the  prayers  of  Lot.  Gen.  xix:  21.  He 
made  Eliphas  and  his  two  friends  obtain  the  prayers 
of  Job  before  he  would  pardon  them.  Job  xlii:  8,  10. 
We  see  men  and  angels  together  invoked  by  Jacob  in 
blessing  the  children  of  Joseph.  Gen.  xlviii:  15, 1G. 

.  God  told  Jeremias  that  not  even  did  Moses  and  Sam- 
uel ask  him  would  he  grant  his  prayer  and  spare  the 
people,  showing  he  would  do  more  if  they  prayed  than 
for  him.     Jeremias  xv:  1. 

It  is  said  that  "  whatever  is  written  in  the  Scripture, 
is  written  for  our  instruction."  But  every  where,  in 
the  Old  Testament,  we  perceive  the  veneration  and  in- 
vocation of  angels  and  living  saints.  The  fact  of  saints 
being  in  the  glory  of  God,  increases  their  influence  and 
their  title  to  veneration.  "  The  saints  are  like  the'An- 
gels  of  God,"  out  Saviour  tells  us,  and  we  are  told  by 
St.  John,  that  "  the  measure  of  an  angel  and  a  man  is 
the  same."  Apoc.  xxi.  But  angels  know  what  takes 
place  on  earth,  for  "  they  rejoice  when  a  sinner  is  con- 
verted," and  the  guardian  angols  of  children  know  when 
those  children  are  despised,  for  our  Saviour  gives  this 
as  a  reaion,  saying,  "  their  angels  always  gee  the  face 


328  MAN   IN   THE   FUTURE. 

of  God."  If  angels  seeing  the  face  of  God,  can  know 
what  takes  place  concerning  those  over  whom  they 
watch,  so  can  saints,  seeing  the  face  of  God,  know  who 
prays  to  them.     See  Math.  xvi.  10. 

Nor  does  this  detract  from  the  sole  mediatorship  of 
Christ,  because  his  is  a  mediatorship  of  redemption,  theirs 
of  intercession,  and  as  theirs  is  through  Christ,  it  ra- 
ther enhances  his  than  detracts  from  it.  It  is  said, 
"  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  mediator  of  God  and 
men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,"  but  the  text  shows  what 
that  mediatorship  is?  by  adding:  "who  gave  himself  a 
redemption  for  all."  1  Tim.  ii.  5,  6.  To  undertake  to 
apply  the  text  without  this  addition  is  unfair.  If  living 
saints  may  pray  for  us,  and  not  interfere  with  the  medi- 
atorship of  Christ,  why  may  not  saints  in  heaven  also 
do  so  ?  "  Give  honour  to  whom  honour  is  due ;"  Rom.  xiii. 
7.  Is  no  honour  due  to  the  saints  who  reign  with  Christ  ? 
And  no  invocation  of  those,  to  be  made  who  rule  na- 
tions ?     Apoc.  ii.  26. 

To  relics  men  have  no  objection,  except  when  they 
have  reference  to  the  saints  and  friends  of  God.  God 
chose  to  have  the  relics  of  his  saints  venerated.  He 
caused  the  touch  of  the  bones  of  Elizeus  to  restore  the 
dead  to  life.  4.  Kings,  xiii.  21.  "And  God  wrought 
by  the  hand  of  Paul  more  than  common  miracles.  So 
that  even  there  were  brought  from  his  body  to  the  sick, 
handkerchiefs  and  aprons,  and  the  diseases  departed 
from  them,  and  the  wicked  spirits  went  out  of  them." 
Acts  xix.  11,  12.  Even  the  shadow  of  St.  Peter  cur- 
ed the  sick.     Acts  v.  15. 

Persons  sometimes  cite  God's  commandment  as  prohib- 
iting the  making  of  images,  and  though  it  is  general, 
they  make  and  use  all  sorts  of  images,  provided  they 
are  none  of  them  religious.  Whereas  the  church  holds 
that  God  prohibits  the  making  of  images  to  adore  them 
as  Gods,  but  that  we  have  at  least  as  much  right  to  use 
images  as  memorials  of  holy  persons  and  scenes,  as  of 
those  that  are^secular  and  profane,  and  that  our  venera- 
tion of  the  images,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  prototypes,  as^ 
is  well  understood  by  men.  For  example,  observe  the  vene- 


MAN   IN   THE   FUTURE.  329' 

ration  people  have  for  the  flag  of  their  country,  or  for 
portraits  of  distinguished  persons,  or  family  portraits. 
Having  little  or  no  faith,  they  do  not  care  much  for  the 
images  of  Christ,  of  his  holy  Mother,  or  his  saints. 
Not  so  the  church,  of  whoso  family  they  are. 

Of  Purgatory ',  and  Prayers  for  the  Dead. 

The  following  shows  the  doctrine  on  this  point: 
Whereas,  the  Catholic  church,  instructed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  has,  from  the  sacred  writings  and  the  ancient 
tradition  of  the  Fathers,  taught,  in  sacred  councils,  and 
very  recently  in  this  oecumenical  synod,  that  there  is  a 
Purgatory,  and  that  the  souls  there  detained  are  helped 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  faithful,  but  principally  by  the 
acceptable  sacrifice  of  the  altar;  the  Holy  Synod  en- 
joins on  bishops  that  they  diligently  endeavour  that  the 
sound  doctrine  concerning  Purgatory,  transmitted  by 
the  holy  Fathers  and  sacred  councils,  be  believed,  main- 
tained, taught,  and  every  where  proclaimed  by  the 
faithful  of  Christ.  But  let  the  more  difficult  and  sub- 
tle questions,  and  which  tgnd  not  to  edification,  and 
from  which  for  the  most  part  there  is  no  increase  of 
piety,  be  excluded  from  popular  discourses  before  the 
uneducated  multitude. ;  In  like  manner  such  things  as 
are  uncertain,  or  which  labour  under  an  appearance  of 
error,  let  them  not  allow  to  be  made  public  and  treated 
of.  While  thtse  things  which  tend  to  a  certain  kind  of 
curiosity,  or  superstition,  or  which  savour  of  filthy  lu- 
cre, let  them  prohibit  as  scandals  and  stumbling  blocks 
of  the  faithful.  But  let  the  bishops  take  care,  that  the 
suffrages  of  the  faithful,  who  are  living,  to  wit,  the  .sac- 
rifices of  masses,  prayers,  alms,  and  other  works  of 
piety,  which  have  been  wont  to  be  performed  by  tho 
faithful  for  the  other  faithful  departed,  be  piously  and 
devoutly  performed,  in  accordance  with  the  institutes  of 
the  church  ;  and  that  whatever  is  due  on  their  behalf, 
from  endowments  of  testators,  or  in  other  way,  be  dis- 
charged, not  in  a  perfunctory  manner,  but  diligently 
and  accurately,   by  the  priests   and  ministers  of  tho 


050  MAN   IN   THB  FUTURS. 

church,  and  others  who  are  bound  to  render  this  ser- 
vice."  Counc.  Trent,  Sess.  XXY.  Decree  on  Purgatory. 
"  If  any  one  saith,  that,  after  the  grace  of  justifica- 
tion lias  been  received,  to  every  penitent  sinner  the 
guilt  is  remitted,  and  the  debt  ox  eternal  punishment  il 
blotted  put  in  such  wis*',  that  there  remains  not  any 
debt  ©f  temporal  punishment  to  be  discharged  cither  in 
this  world,  or  in  the  next  in  Purgatory,  before  the  en- 
trance to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  can  be  opened  (to 
such  sinner);  let  him  be  anathema."  Sess.  VI.  Can. 
XXX. 

"  If  any  one  saith,  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  is 
not  a  propitiatory  sacrifice;  or  that  it  profits  only  him 
who  receives;  and  that  it  ought  not  to  be  offered  for 
the  living  and  the  dead  for  sins,  pains,  satisfactions,  and 
other  necessities  ;  let  him  be  anathema."  Sess.  XXII. 
Can.  III. 

The  Scriptures  say :  "He  that  shall  speak  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in 
this  world,  nor  in  the  world  to  come."  Math,  xii,  32. 
"  For  neither  could  it  be  truly  said  of  some,"  writes  St. 
Augustine,  "that  it  would  not  be  forgiven  neither  in 
this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come,  unless  there  wero 
those,  to  whom,  although  there  should  not  be  forgive- 
ness in  this  world,  vet  there  would  be  in  the  future." 
De  Civit.  Dei,  lib.  XXII.  Cap.  24. 

M  If  any  man!s  work  burns,  he  shall  suffer  loss  :  but 
he  himself  shall  be  saved  yet  so  as  by  ffre."  1.  Cor. 
iii.  15. 

Of  prayers  for  the  dead.  "  It  is  therefore  a  holy  and 
wholesome  thought'to  pray  for  the  dead,  that  they  may 
be  loosed  from  their  sins."     2d.  Machabees  XII.  4G. 

"  What  Bhall  they  do  that  are  baptized  for^he  dead, 
if  the  dead  rise  not  again  '.'  why  are  they  then  baptized 
for  them?"  1  Cor.  xv.  29.  "Whatever  is  meant  by  this 
pas*  t  shows  that  the  Corinthians  believed 

that  the  living  could  do^some.thing  to  benefit  the  dead, 
and  some  think  that,  by  baptism  for  them,  was  meant, 
by  metaphor,  afflictions  and  penitential  works. 

The  church  has  not  defined  where  Purgatory  is,  but 


MAN   IN   TAB   FUTURE.  831 

it  Is  the  common  opinion  that  it  is  subterranean.  She 
has  not  defined  that  there  is  in  Purgatory  a  material 
fire,  which,  however,  is  the  most  common  opinion. 

Of  course,  without  a  special  revelation  from  God,  no 
one  can  be  certain  whom  He  has  sent  to  this  place  of 
expiation,  or  in  what  degree  those  in  Purgatory  are 
benefitted  by  the  prayers  of  the  living.  As  far  as  the 
doctrine  has  been  defined  by  the  church,  no  reasonable 
objection  can  be  advanced  against  it,  and  to  make  it 
unpopular  it  has  been  necessary  to  misrepresent  it,  and 
blacken  it  by  means  of  anecdotes,  at  once  laughable  and 
absurd.  The  descendants  of  those,  who  would  admit 
no  Purgatory  formerly,  and  who  were  inexorable  in  de- 
nying venial  sins,  and  the  necessity  of  satisfactions, 
now  maintain  that  there  is  nothing  but  Purgatory  and 
temporal  satisfactions  or  punishments  for  sin,  so  true  it 
13  that  outside  of  the  church  men  cannot  be  fixed  in 
any  belief,  but  "  are  cast  to  and  fro  with  every  wind  of 
doctrine." 


FINIS 


Paje    4*1 

UM 

". 

ti 

61 

ii 

•1 

M 

82 

ii 

M. 

ii 

94 

ii 

17 

ii 

IM 

ii 

B  ■ 

it 

179 

ii 

» 

ERRATA. 

For  Conttantinopolitan,  read  Athanaiian. 
For  Multipled,  read  Multiplied. 
For  Authority  of  the  Church,  read  Authority 

of  the  Catholic  Church. 
e.     For  Cot/.en,  read  Contzen. 
8  and  1 1.  For  Sfrondatus,  read  Sfondratus. 
For  Cease  read  Ceases. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Of  God— The  Existence  of  God,  p.  L.  The  Nature  of  God,  2.  Uni- 
ty, 3.      Trinity,  3. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Of  Creation — Angels,  p.  9.     Good  Angels,  11.     Demons,  13. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Of  Man,  p.  15.  The  Fall  of  Man,  18.  Of  the  Unity  of  the  Hu- 
man Race,  20. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Of  Original  Sin,  p.  22. 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Merciful  Promise  of  a  Redeemer,  p.  25. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Jesus  Christ — The  Incarnation,  p.  34.  The  Mother  of  God,  or  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  38.     The  Redemption— The  Cross,  40. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Of  the  Holy  Ghost,  p.  44.  He  is  a  True  Person,  45.  His  Divinity 
Proved,  47.  He  is  Consubstantial  with  the  Father  and  the  Som 
48.  The  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  50. 
His  Gifts  and  Fruits,  53. 


884  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  p.  55.  Its  Marks,  Unity,  Sanctity 
Catholicity  and  Apostolicity,  pp.  57-63.  These  Marks  belong 
only  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  63. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Church — Its  Hierarchy,  p.  64.  Its  Infalli- 
bility, fi6.  Its  Legislative  and  Coercive  Authority,  69.  The  Pope 
the  Visible  Head  of  the  Church,  70.  The  Necessity  of  the 
Church,  or  Out  of  the  Church,  no  Salvation,  72.  Its  Members 
Not  to  Visit  the  Religious  Assemblies  of  other  Denominations,  74. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Of  Holy  Scripture  and  Tradition,  p.  79.  The  OJd  Testament,  84. 
The  Now  Testation!,  b7.     Tradition,  01. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Of  Faith— The  Rule  of  Faith,  p.  9S. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Concerning  Grace — Its  Nature — Its  Division*,  p.  103.  Its  Effects — 
First  Effect,  Justification,  108.  8ecoad  Effect,  the  Merit  of  Good 
Works,  111.  Predestination.  122.  The  Condemned  Propositions 
of  Janstuiim,  189. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Of  External  Worship — Religion  must  be  External  and  Corporal,  as 
well  a*  internal  and  Spiritual,  pp.  130-133. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Of  the  Sacraments  in  General,  p.  134. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Of  Baptism — lis  Matter  and  Form,  p.  140.  It*  Necessity,  14'5.  Its 
Effects,  154.  Its  Minister.  155.  Of  the  Mode  of  Baptism.  155. 
Its  Ceremonies,  157. 


CONTENTS.  335 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
0/  Confirmation,  p.  160.      Its  Matter  and  Form,  162.      Its  Effects, 
164.     Its  Minister — Its  Necessity — Its  Subject,  165. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Of  the  Holy  Eucharist — It  is  a  Sacrament  and  a    Sacrifice,  p.  166. 

The  Eucharist  as  a  Sacrament,  167.     The   Real  Presence,  168. 

Transubstantiatton,  176.     Other  Points  of  the  Doctrine,  181.     Of 

the  Matter  and  Form  of  the  Eucharist,  182.     Of  the  Minister,  of 

*  the  Subject,  184.     Its  Necessity — Its  Effects,  1R5. 

CHATTER  XVIII. 

The  Eucbarfct  as  a  Sacrifice,  p.  186.  The  Body  of  Christ  the  Ac. 
ceptable  Victim  of  Sacrifice  on  the  Cross  and  in  the  Eucharist, 

187.  The  Mass — The  Christian  Religion  has  a  Pwblic  Sacrifice, 

188.  Proofs  that  the  Mass  is  a  True'Saerifice,  190.  Of  the  Mat- 
ter and  Form,  196.  Its  Effects  or  Properties,  197.  Its  Minister, 
197.  Of  the  Language  in  which  it  is  Offered,  198.  To  Whom 
and  for  Whom  it  is  Offered,  199. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  p.  200.  Its  Matter  and  Form,  202. 
Contrition,  203.  Confessian,  206.  Satisfaction,  214.  Absolution, 
219.    The  Minister,  221. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Of  Indulgences,  p.  224. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Of  the  Sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction,'  p.  230.  Its  Matter  and 
Form,  235.  Its  Effects,  237.  Its  Minister,  239.  Its  Subject,  240. 
Its  Necessity,  241. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Of  the  Sacrament  of  Holy  Order,  p.  242.  Order  embraces  different 
Degrees — It  is  a  True  Sacrament,  246.  Of  Deacons,  251.  Of 
Priests,  253.  Of  Bishops,  254.  Of  the  First  Tonsure,  259.  The 
Four  Minor  Orders,  viz:  of  Porter,  Lector,  260.  Exorcist,  Aco- 
lyte, 261.  Of  the  Matter  and  Form,  264.  Its  Effects,  266.  It» 
Minister,  271.     Its  Subject — Condition*  Required,  272. 


336  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 

Of  Celibacy — It  is  an  Obligation  for  the  Clergy — It  .is  a  more  Ex- 
cellent and  Holy  State  than  tha.t  of  Matrimony,  275-284. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Of  thi8  Sacrament  of  Matrimony,  p.  284.  Of  the  Ends  of  Matri- 
mony, 284.  Of  its  Nature,  287.  Matrimony  is  a  True  Sacra- 
mtnt,  290.  Proofs  of  this,  292.  Of  this  Matter,  the  Form,  and 
the  Minister  of  the  Sacrament,  296.  Of  the  Properties  of  Mar* 
riage,  304.  Its  Unity,  304.  Its  Indissolubility,  and  of  Divorce, 
306.  Of  the  Marriages  of  Slaves,  3i3.  Of  the  Subject,  or  of 
those  who  Contract  Marriage,  314.  The  Impediments,  314.  Of 
the  Power  to  Establish  Impediments,  315.  Annulling  Impedi- 
ments, 318.  Prohibitive  Impediments,  321.  Of  the  Dispositions 
for  Receiving  this  Sacrament,  322. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Of  Man  in  the  Future  World,  p.  324.  The  Last  End  of  Man- 
Death — Judgment — Heaven — Hell,  325.  Of  the  Saints — Invo- 
cation— Veneration — They  Pray  for  the  Living,  326.  Purgatory 
— Prayers  for  the  Dead,  329, 


